Knights of the Talisman
by nld200xy
Summary: Izy has always dreamed of being a knight. After years of working in a circus, she is determined to make her dream a reality and fight alongside the knights who protect Duel Kingdom. But does she have what it takes?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. Also, like with my last YGO fic, I might end up breaking a few card rules for story-related purposes, but also like last time, I'm gonna try and keep this to a bare minimum. Unlike last time, though, there will be XYZ summoning in this. Not so sure about Synchro summoning. I'm considering it, but I might just leave it at XYZ. Also, the main character is slightly based off of Yuya from Arc-V.

Tomorrow was a big day for a young woman who had just reached the age of eighteen, a woman by the name of Izy. Since the age of twelve when her parents decided she was ready, she had been a circus performer and had entertained millions. But while she certainly enjoyed this, she had another dream, one she had tried to obtain many times.

This woman wished to be a knight so that she may protect the kingdom with the best of them. She would sport the royal armour, wear the ancient duelling gauntlets and wield talismans that contained creatures and spells within them. And tomorrow would be that day as she swore to herself that without a shadow of a doubt, tonight's performance would be her last.

Though one could tell why it had been so difficult. She was a rather cute woman with short brown hair, bright blue eyes and a very slender build. Sure, she was quick and nimble on her feet, but her physical strength was a mystery as sometimes, she would be seen lifting very heavy objects and other times, she would struggle with that sort of thing for no reason. But despite this, she was certain that knighthood was for her.

As she got dressed up in her performing outfit, a middle-aged man with a pointy black beard and a rather long nose, the ringleader to be exact, looked at her and sighed, "Are you sure about this, Izy?"

"Positive," the girl replied with a smirk as she did up a bow tie to go with her bright-red and white sleeveless top, "With that new talisman you gave me last night, I just know I can finally convince them to let me in."

This man, one by the name of Edward, shook his head and sighed, "It's not that I doubt you're ready. It's just, we all like and respect you here. You're the best performer we have. Choosing a new path is one thing, but you'll be risking your life on a regular basis!"

"Yeah, I know," Izy replied with a childish grin as she turned to face him, "I appreciate the concern, but I'm gonna do it," Edward taking a deep breath and giving her a warm smile, saying, "Well, if you're leaving us tomorrow, you'd better make this the best show on Earth."

"You know it," Izy replied with a smirk before stepped out into the ring and waving her hands to the adoring public and receiving lots of applause.

A cute smile formed on her face as she soaked up the attention, thinking, 'Some day, the people will cheer for a different reason. I'll no longer be a performer but a hero, something no one else in my family has ever been.'

The show went great as Izy performed all kinds of aerial flips, balancing acts and many stunts that wowed the audience greatly. She even had the other performers come in and form and upside-down human pyramid with her leaping from the tightrope and landing perfectly in the middle of it, balancing herself on the shoulders of the performer being held in that spot. Needless to say, the audience was impressed.

One would think this would change her mind, hearing the roar of the crowd after pulling off what should have been impossible, but it only wanted her to be a knight even more. It was great giving the public something to look forward to during times of war, but she wanted to give them something else to cheer about, a sense of hope.

The following morning, Izy was prepared as she was no longer dressed like a performer and instead sported a more professional outfit, or at least as professional as someone like her could manage. She had no armour of her own or any suits for that matter, but she did have a dark-red tunic that her mother gave her for her sixteenth birthday. This was the outfit she would always wear at the castle as it was the best clothing she had for a job application.

While walking through the streets of the village known simply as Duel Kingdom, the villagers looked at her as a nearby merchant chuckled and whispered to a customer, "There she goes again."

"I don't know why she keeps humiliating herself," a nearby woman whispered while a child with his parents pointed at Izy and squealed, "Hey, it's the crazy clown lady!"

Izy continued to look straight ahead with a serious look on her face. She had heard this noise before and refused to let it get to her. Sure, these same people loved watching her perform, but even they could not take her desire to be a knight seriously. It just seemed like a hopeless dream to them. After all, how could a circus performer be a knight?

Whatever the case, she was not going to back down as she soon approached the castle and took a deep breath. She then slowly made her way toward the front gate where two guards stood.

"State your name and-" one guard said before taking a good look at the woman and slapping his forehead, sighing, "Oh no, not you again."

Izy grinned childishly and said, "Yep, it's just little old me," the other guard groaning, "Alright, just go ahead, but don't be too upset when the king has you booted out for wasting his time again."

Izy smirked and remarked, "Shows what you know," before placing her hand against the side of her face and whispering, "I have a secret weapon."

She then gave the two guards a wink and replaced her childish smile with a more professional look, making her way through the gate and toward the main entrance. She breathed in the fresh air, beyond pumped. She just knew she would pass the test this time.

During this time, the king and queen seemed a little busy to be dealing with guests. The king was a forty-year-old man with a bulky build and short orange hair named Henry. The queen was a slender thirty-seven-year-old woman with long violet hair named Esmeralda.

As for what they were doing, the two were currently in the room of their son, a young man with blue hair and the nicest green eyes anyone could ever gaze upon named Eric. Currently, he was having a similar conversation with his parents that Izy had with her ringleader last night.

"Son, you know how dangerous this is," Henry pleaded while looking his son deep in the eyes, "What if something happens to you?" Esmeralda sighing, "I'm sure he'll be fine," the woman resting a hand on the king's shoulder.

Eric nodded with a serious look and replied, "Father, I know you're concerned, but come on, we have so many people in this kingdom going off and fighting wars and protecting their people while I sit around all day reading books and learning about etiquette and things I really couldn't care less about!"

"Eric, those things are very important!" the king retorted as the boy rolled his eyes and remarked, "They're also boring and unnecessary. What good is being polite at the table? Does it end wars?"

"Well, no, but it can sometimes prevent them," Henry remarked as Esmeralda rested a hand on the man's shoulder, saying, "Let me handle this."

The king stared at his wife briefly before taking a deep breath and sighing, "Fine, you go ahead," the man giving the two space as Esmeralda smiled at her son and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Mom, look, you understand where I'm coming from, right?" Eric asked as the woman nodded and said, "Believe you me, I know. I grew up during the time when women weren't allowed to be knights, but I always wanted to be one. I think it would be unfair to rob you of such a chance," Henry's eyes widening, the man then placing a finger against his chin and saying, "You know, I hadn't thought of it that way."

"I just want you to assure me of one thing," the queen stated with a serious look on her face, "I want to know that you are fully aware of what being a knight entails. It's not some game where the best fighter wins some kind of prize. We are talking about life-threatening situations. If you lose to the enemy, it will cost you your life. Not only that, but thanks to the talismans and our duelling gauntlets, knights no longer fight with swords and shields but instead rely on monsters and magic as their weapons, making battle even more dangerous than it used to be. I just want you to assure me that you are, indeed, aware of this."

Eric took a deep breath and nodded his head, saying, "Trust me, Mother, I know exactly what I'm asking for."

With all said and done, Esmeralda smiled and turned to Henry, saying, "Well, I'm okay with this," Henry letting out a sigh and uttering, "Well, if you're sure you can handle this, son, I guess I can no longer try to stop you."

Eric tried his best to contain his excitement but could not help himself as a big, childish grin formed on his face, the boy giving his father a hug and exclaiming, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" before letting go and clearing his throat, saying, "I mean, I am most grateful, father," Henry rolling his eyes and sighing, "Just don't act like that in public, okay?"

However, before anything else could be said and done, there came a knock on the door as Henry answered and noticed a knight, a young boy with short blond hair taking many deep breaths while uttering, "Your highness, that crazy girl is back."

Henry and Esmeralda both looked at one-another as the queen smiled and said, "How interesting. I wonder if she'll actually pass this time," all three members of the royal family exiting the room to head to the throne room.

"HEY, BACK OFF!" Izy snapped as she stood before the commander of the guard, a tall woman with red hair in a ponytail named Celeste, "I need to speak to the king to take the test, right!?" Celeste retorting, "Yes, but there is no chance in Hell that he will want to speak to you!"

However, it seemed the woman was wrong when Henry entered the area and said, "Enough, Celeste. Anyone who wants to be a knight is allowed to take the entrance exam at the start of each month. You know that."

"But sir, with all due respect, this immature brat does not deserve to be a knight," the commander stated as Izy snapped, "SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"

Celeste rolled her eyes and pleaded, "She has tried thirteen times to be accepted as a knight here and failed every single time. You have always been called away from important matters to watch her make a fool of herself. All I'm saying is that it seems pointless to waste your time on someone so unworthy."

Izy simply smirked and remarked, "For your information, I've got something that'll guarantee my acceptance into this army," Celeste sighing, "You're not fit to be a knight. You should just remain in the circus where you belong!"

Eric was about to cut in when Esmeralda stated, "Celeste, who are you to dictate what path one should pursue with his or her life?" the commander turning to face the woman as she added, "Did you know that before you were born, women weren't allowed to be knights? It was believe that our kind was weak and unfit for battle. And yet look at where you are. Not only are you a knight, but you are also their commander. If it's possible for a woman to rise up to such status, surely a circus performer could have that kind of potential as well."

"But she doesn't take this seriously enough!" Celeste retorted, "She fights with the dumbest-looking demons I have ever seen!" Izy scowling as Eric now felt that he had to intervene, the boy stepping forward and exclaiming, "Cease and desist, commander! If this young woman wishes to take the entrance exam, so be it!"

Celeste took a deep breath and folded her arms, pinching her forehead. She knew that with all three members of the royal family against her on this matter, she really had no choice as Izy beamed. It seemed she still had a shot at this after all and she was going to prove her worth, whether the commander liked it or not.

With all said and done, Izy was led by a couple of knights to the training facility where the test would take place, the woman sighing, "I don't know why you have to accompany me. I know where the training facility is."

"We are fully aware of that," one of the knights replied with a sigh, "And trust me, if it wasn't our job to escort every potential recruit there, we wouldn't bother."

Izy nodded and asked, "By the way, have you been getting better lately? Last time I came here, you didn't have that great of a track record," the man groaning, "Unfortunately, I'm still considered okay at best."

With that, Izy was let into the facility as Celeste had already gone ahead to check up on the army, one knights whispering, "Oh my god, it's her," another adding, "I wonder if she'll use that snake with the top hat again. I love that thing."

"Attention, everyone!" Celeste exclaimed while trying her best to treat this like it was the first time Izy had attempted this, "This young woman has come to take the test that, if passed, will allow her to become a knight and join our ranks! I'm sure I don't have to remind anyone of how the test works, right?"

"Oh, I know!" Izy stated with a childish smile, "I face one of your ten top-ranked knights and if I do a good job, I pass the test!" Celeste sighing, "Yes," before asking, "Does anyone wish to volunteer?"

However, she then looked around and noticed that the only knights present in the facility were her lower-ranking allies. With this in mind, she had a nervous look on her face and asked, "Where are my top soldiers?"

"Don't you remember?" one of the knights asked, "You sent them all off on a really important mission today," the commander groaning and slapping her forehead.

Izy's eyes sparkled as Celeste turned and sighed, "In that case, the only one with a rank high enough to test your skills is me. In that case, I shall be your opponent for the entrance exam!"

Though while the woman had a serious look on her face, she was cursing her rotten luck in her mind. She had so many better things she could have been doing than wasting her skills on a circus performer who could not fight to save her life.

Izy, on the other hand, was beyond ecstatic. Not only did she now have the means of which to pass the test, but she was going up against the strongest of all the knights. She could not have asked for a more fitting opponent. If she could beat the commander, she would be more than worthy of being a knight.

But just as she and Celeste were about to get ready to begin, Eric entered along with his parents and asked, "You weren't going to start without us, were you?" Henry nudging the boy as he cleared his throat, sporting a serious look and saying, "We are here to witness the exam unfold."

The other knights immediately stood up straight and gave an army salute while Eric took a seat on the floor, eager to see how this would play out. Celeste then nodded and said, "Now that the royal family is here, we may prepare for our duel."

Izy nodded, excitement filling her as she was handed a suit of armour, a slender one to be exact. After suiting up, the woman was handed a pair of gauntlets. One was silver, the colour of the armour, but the other was made of pure gold. This was a gauntlet all knights had to wear and it was known as a duelling gauntlet.

What differentiated it from the other gauntlets was not so much its colour but its design as it had a round shield-like attachment on the top of the wrist. Attached two the sides of the rounded part were blade-like features, one longer than the other. The long attachment had three squares like those one would see on a grid while the short attachment only had two, and next to each square was a slot long and wide enough for a playing card to fit inside. But why were they designed like this? That would be revealed soon.

"So, you know how these duels work, of course," Celeste stated as Izy smirked and replied, "Of course I do. Our gauntlets allow our armour to to take in a certain amount of damage and if damage enough, the armour shatters and leaves the knight defenceless."

"Yes, you didn't have to actually say that," the woman replied, "I was just making sure you remembered," Izy grinning as the blond knight from earlier sighed, "I wish I could be as carefree as her. It must be so easy not letting failure get to you."

"She has determination, I'll give her that," another knight said with a shrug of his shoulders while Celeste and Izy stood across from one-another, each holding her hand up against a round gem inserted into the top of the duelling gauntlet, the long attachment swinging to the side with the small one and latching itself onto it. This allowed them to use the magic of the gauntlets to fight as a magical field formed around them. Though with this field came a set of rules that if broken resulted in the loss of the violator's arm. Needless to say, figuring out the rules required a lot of sacrifices in the past.

"As is the rule with magical duels, since you are the challenger, you may decide whether to go first or second," Celeste stated as Izy bowed her head and replied, "How kind of you. Normally I'd go first, but I feel generous, so you can go instead."

Celeste took a deep breath and tried to remain professional as she replied, "If that is what you wish," the two knights pulling out sheets of flattened gem stone from satchels they had been carrying by their sides.

These were the talismans that had been spoken of, magical items that contained spells, formerly evil warriors, sorcerers and demons that once threatened the world before being sealed up. Thanks to the power of the gauntlets, knights were able to harness their powers and use them for combat, though the first rule with the gauntlets was that only the talismans could be used for combat and it was not completely up to the owners to decide which ones to use as the gauntlets chose a selection for them.

As the talismans were inserted into a slot located on the side of each round attachment, the gauntlet magically shuffled them to decide the order of which they could be drawn, Izy grinning and saying, "No matter how many times I see this, it's still so cool! Just think, before finding these gems and making these gauntlets to go with them, knights used to use swords!"

"Those two sure seem to like exposition, don't they?" one knight whispered as the one next to him asked, "They like what now?"

To truly start the duel, both women drew talismans until each one held five and thus the duel could truly begin as Celeste sighed, "Izy, I suggest that when you fail for the fourteenth time, you give up on trying to be a knight," the woman then slapping a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet.

With that, a great magic went through the talisman as the demon sealed inside of it took form. This demon in question was a humanoid ox weilding an axe and sporting a red suit of armour, Celeste saying, "And to begin this duel, I present to you my mighty Battle Ox!"

Izy blinked and said, "That's a good monster to start with," Celeste adding, "Since the rules state that I can't attack on the first turn, I will end with this," the woman placing another talisman into one of the slots as what looked like a large black sheet of paper formed above the ground. This happened when a talisman was in the magical field but not in use.

Izy simply smirked and said, "Well, as intimidating as your ox is, I'm afraid I'm more than ready for this," the woman then drawing as she added, "And since I'm going second, I get to draw an extra talisman!"

But did Izy have anything in her hand that could help her in this duel. Would she have the means of which to pass? After all, she was up against the commander, so to win this duel would likely require a miracle.


	2. Chapter 2

The duel had started up with the odds stacked against Izy as Celeste had summoned a very powerful demon to fight for her. Even so, there was no way Izy was going to lose, not after thirteen prior attempts. This would be the day she finally passed the test and be accepted as a knight.

As she looked over the talismans in her hand, she noticed one with an image of a magician covered in a white robe. She knew she could make use of this sorcerer soon enough, but at the time being, he would not be needed. Instead, there were three particular talismans she had her eyes on and she was going to use them no matter what.

"I'll admit, that ox of yours is scary, but let's see if he's any match for this!" Izy exclaimed as she slapped a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet.

A burst of magic came from the talisman as a light shone out and flew in front of the woman, a light shining in that exact spot. Soon enough, the light faded to reveal a purple cobra with stars painted on his cheeks and a black top hat on his head.

The other knights stared as one grinned and said, "See? I knew she was gonna use that," Izy exclaiming, "For my first move, I am counting on my trusty Performapal Whip Snake!" the ox staring wide-eyed as Celeste sighed, "How predictable. And let me guess, you're planning on using his special power, right?"

"You'd better believe it!" Izy replied with a smirk, "As you know, the demon with the highest strength wins in these duels, and your battle ox has very low defensive properties! As such, my snake is very inconvenient as his power allows him to switch an opponent's attack and defence power!"

Celeste let out a sigh as the snake gazed into Battle Ox's eyes, the creature gritting his teeth as his axe seemed to rust a bit. With that, Izy was more than confident as she pointed forward and exclaimed, "No, Whip Snake, attack that muscular cow!" the snake nodding with a grin and propelling himself off the floor, flipping himself around before aiming his tail at the ox's skull.

However, Celeste did not look too worried as she tapped the talisman that she had placed inside her gauntlet's slot earlier, thus allowing her to activate its magic. The floating sheet of paper suddenly flipped itself upright as an image formed, this being the picture of a young man flexing his muscles with a great deal of energy coming from his body.

Izy stared in confusion and uttered, "What does that do?"

"This is a trap known as Rising Energy," Celeste replied, "At the cost of one talisman from my hand, I can raise the attack power of any demon by a great deal before my turn ends, and I choose my Battle Ox."

The ox grinned as the original shine of his axe returned, Celeste placing one of her talismans into the slot on the opposite side of the ones she could draw. This was referred to as the 'talisman graveyard'.

However, it seemed Izy was prepared for this as she remarked, "I don't think so," before inserting a talisman of her own into one of her slots.

Celeste blinked and thought, 'A quick-play spell,' as a large tablet appeared with the image of a small man with a big, overconfident spirit standing right behind him.

Izy grinned and said, "Your Rising Energy is certainly impressive, but my Ego Boost spell is pretty good too," Whip Snake grinning as the muscles in his tail increased exponentially.

Celeste could not believe Izy had pulled off such an impressive move as she gritted her teeth, the snake's tail striking the ox hard and knocking him hard on his back. The ox then turned into a flash of light and flew into Celeste's graveyard as she took a deep breath.

At that moment, she noticed the number four thousand appear on the gem atop her gauntlet. However, she knew that number would go down when Whip Snake lashed out his tail, striking her armour, thus reducing said number of thirty-eight hundred. This was, of course, to show how much damage she could take in now and Izy's armour had the same level of resistance.

Izy proceeded to set a talisman into another slot as a black sheet appeared before her, just like when Celeste set her trap earlier, Izy explaining, "And with that, my turn comes to a close and my snake's power returns to normal."

Whip Snake looked rather disappointed as his tail reverted to its original size, but he was still happy to have been of help. However, Celeste was not so happy right now as she frowned and said, "It's not as if I didn't know you had those. I have seen you in combat lord knows how many times. I just didn't think you'd drawn that Ego Boost talisman yet."

"Who cares?" Izy remarked with a shrug, "You still took in damage," as Celeste sighed, Eric clapping and exclaiming, "Good show, Izy! I can't wait to see more!"

However, Henry and Esmeralda had witnessed this sort of thing before. It was not as if Izy's demons and spells were useless. They just never seemed good enough to help her out in the long run. But even so, the woman was off to a good start.

But with the snake's power back to normal, it was certainly possible for Celeste to turn things around as she drew her next talisman, wasting no time setting it into one of the slots along with another one. She then proceeded to place a talisman sideways onto the middle square as a big rock formed. This was to show that a demon was being hidden while also in a defensive state, meaning it was anyone's guess who was located inside of that rock.

"Let's say what you can do about this," Celeste stated as Izy grinned and remarked, "You know, I would have expected better."

Looking at her hand, the woman saw two particular beings she could summon, both of which could help her with her ultimate plan to catch the commander off-guard. However, both were rather weak when it came to offence and as such, she decided to place one of them face-down on the square next to her whip snake.

"I guess I won't damage you this turn, but I can still do this," Izy said with a grin as she had her snake fling himself toward Celeste's defending demon. However, Celeste seemed more than confident as she revealed a trap she had set earlier, one with a picture of a beam of light bouncing off of a force field and spreading out in multiple directions.

"Oh no, it's her Mirror Force," one knight whispered as Eric gulped, saying, "I know what that does."

But just as the trap was about to make things more difficult, Izy smirked and replied, "Tough luck, but I got an answer to your little trap," before revealing a talisman with an image of a pocket knife, saying, "At the cost of one-thousand damage points, I can negate any trap your activate and destroy it!"

The knights in the area had to admit that they were impressed as Izy's number went down to three thousand and a knife was shot out of her tablet. Said knife pierced Celeste's tablet, causing it to crack and fall into pieces. However, the commander remained calm as she said, "That is why I have this."

The woman then revealed her other talisman with an image of three women dressed in robes as she explained, "This is known as Waboku, a trap that prevents anyone one my side of the field from being destroyed."

"That's not good," Izy uttered as the rock came open to reveal a short swordsman carrying a blade his size and sporting a black robe and helmet.

But while the man's cover was blown, he was protected by Celeste's trap and thus could not be destroyed by Whip Snake's tail. But while Izy could not destroy him this turn, she looked rather disappointed as this swordsman was rather weak.

"Really?" she asked, "That was the best you could do?" Celeste narrowing her eyelids and thinking, 'Of course, it only stands to reason she would know nothing of the Silent Swordsman. All I have to do is draw the right talisman and this duel is mine.'

And it would seem this might happen soon as Izy's turn came to a close, Celeste drawing her next card as she did not draw exactly what she needed. However, she did draw something just as helpful as she activated it, a spell with a picture of a grinning green pot on it.

"Thanks to my Pot of Greed, I can now draw two talismans," the commander stated as she did just that, Izy thinking, 'Okay, this could be bad. Two talismans are more likely to be a pain in my side than one.'

To make matters worse, Celeste had another pot of greed and just happened to draw that, thus allowing her to draw two more talismans in exchange for that one. Either way, this was certainly bad news for Izy.

Celeste smirked for the first time in the duel before saying, "I'll give you some credit, Izy. You managed to tough it out longer than you thought you would, but if you think two hundred damage to me makes you worthy of being a knight, you're more suited to being a court jester than I initially thought."

Eric gritted his teeth as Henry asked, "Something wrong, son?" the prince muttering, "I don't like her attitude. Do I really have to be her disciple?" Esmeralda nodding and replying, "Celeste may be judgemental, but she is our best knight. I wouldn't trust this position to anyone else."

And it seemed there was a good reason as Celeste placed a talisman on top of the one for Silent Swordsman, said talisman turning into light and going into her graveyard while the swordsman was replaced by another, this one much taller and sporting a dark-blue robe and helmet as opposed to black.

"What just happened?" Izy asked as Celeste smirked and remarked, "It's Silent Swordsman's special power. With the right talisman, I can upgrade him from level three to level five. And he's not a tribute summoned demon, either. He was special summoned. That means I can summon another demon this turn."

Izy's eyes and mouth were wide open now as the commander proceeded to place another talisman onto the space next to Silent Swordsman. This allowed her to summon a knight covered head to toe in red armour named 'Breaker the Magical Warrior'.

Izy gulped as this knight was pretty powerful too. However, it would only get worse from here as Celeste explained, "When Breaker is summoned normally, a spell counter is added to him. This counter raises his power by a little bit."

And this seemed so as the knight held up his sword, a green energy spiralling around it. Izy tried her best to remain calm, but even she was unsure of what could be done in response to this.

"As I said, you are not fit to serve in the army," Celeste stated harshly as she had her swordsman charged toward Whip Snake, swinging his sword sideways across the demon's tail.

Whip Snake cried out in pain as his body was split in half, soon sinking into the floor as a spellbound Izy received a slash of her own to her armour, her damage points going now reduced to twenty-four hundred. But the torment did not end there as Breaker charged at her defending monsters and slashed the rock open, revealing it to be a sword with a fish's body, a pompadour shaped like a spear and a red bow tie with yellow polka-dots.

Either way, this demon was weak too as he was soon shattered into tiny fragments. However, Izy had taken in no damage this time as Celeste said, "At the very least, it was smart to have that demon in defence position otherwise you would have taken in damage from that."

"Just as I thought," one of the knights sighed, "No one can defeat Celeste," another adding, "The poor kid. She never stood a chance."

Izy did not even care about being called a kid. No, to have everyone assumed she was going to lose made her feel awful. And to make matters worse, it did seem like they might just be right. After all, if she did not draw the right talisman next turn, she would be done for. The demons in her hand were not enough to keep her in the duel.

"Look, Izy, just give up," Celeste said with a sigh, Eric wanting to speak up against the commander right now as she continued, "It's not like we can possibly think less of you anyway. You're better off entertaining people. That's what you're good at."

Izy blinked as the commander added, "On my free time, I have gone to see a few of your shows, and you are incredible. Why you would give that up for knighthood is beyond me, because you are not fit to be a knight!"

"Well, maybe I'm not," Izy remarked as everyone stared, Eric gulping as the woman added, "Who knows? Maybe I need training from you, the best of the best, but if there's one thing I know, it's that I want to be a knight and nothing, not even you, will stop me from achieving that goal!"

"You tell her!" Eric exclaimed as the others turned to face him, the prince quickly placing his hands on his knees and whistling innocently while Henry sighed and shook his head.

Celeste blinked and shrugged her shoulders, saying, "I will say, if anything, your commitment is commendable. But being a knight is not just cheers, praise and special treatment."

"I know that," Izy remarked, "I know, it's hard work. If I become a knight today, I'll be risking my life from this moment on, and I'm okay with that because I know I can handle it!"

All went silent as Eric's cheeks turned bright pink, his heart beating a mile a minute. Could this be it? Had he found his kindred spirit, or better yet, his soul mate?

Whatever the case, it was Izy's turn as she drew her next talisman, Celeste sighing, "Fine, go ahead and make a fool of yourself. See if I care."

However, surprisingly, some of the knights watching actually seemed to want Izy to make a comeback now. Up until this point, no one really knew just how commited the woman actually was, and yet all that stuff she had said made her come off as true knight material. What if she could defeat Celeste?

Upon seeing the talisman she had drawn, Izy's eyes widened, a big smile forming on her face. This was it. She finally had the perfect set up to turn this all around and she was not going to waste another minute.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and held up two specific talismans, saying, "You know, there are two particular bad boys I've never used in these tests before because I've never had them both in my hand at once. See, I can't really use their power without that, but now I do and I intend to take full advantage of this."

"What are you talking about?" Celeste asked as Izy exclaimed, "Now to introduce a form of a summoning that no one has ever seen before!" the woman slapping the talismans right next to the squares, one of each side of the gauntlet's attachment.

The first of these was the magician with the white robe that Izy had been holding onto since the duel began. The other was another magician, only this one wore a black robe and had a gauntlet very similar to the one that the knights wore.

"First I set the two pendulum mages, Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician!" Izy exclaimed as each one appeared on a different side of the magic field. Timegazer, the one in black, stood on the far right while Stargazer, the one in white, was on the far left. As if this could not get any stranger, a big pendulum magically appeared behind the two and started to rock back and forth.

"What is that?" Celeste uttered as Eric's eyes sparkled, the prince saying, "Wow, that's so cool."

Henry blinked and said, "Well, her gauntlet didn't explode, so it must be a real effect," Esmeralda smiling and adding, "This should be interesting."

"So both those warriors could be summoned at once?" Celeste asked as Izy shook her head and replied, "No, these are a type of being that only my dad knows about. They're called pendulum demons and when summoned this way, they're treated as spells. What they do is allow me to summon all other demons whose power levels are between the numbers shown on the side of their talismans."

The knights in the area seemed rather confused as Eric caught on right away, the prince pointing and exclaiming, "I get it! I noticed it right away! Stargazer's talisman has the number one written around that small bit of text talking about his special power while Timegazer has the number eight! That means any demon levels one to eight can summoned at once, right?"

"Actually, it's levels two to seven, but you were mostly right," Izy replied with a big grin as Esmeralda turned to her son and asked, "Have you seen these talismans before?" Eric shaking his head and replying, "No, but that woman's explanation made it very clear."

'Really?' Celeste thought, 'I didn't understand a word of that, but if that's true, then I might actually be in trouble now.'

"With these two in play, I can now summon both demons in my hand!" Izy exclaimed as she placed each talisman on a separate square.

Celeste narrowed her eyelids as two beams of light formed, the pendulum rocking even harder now. However, the knights and Celeste all went from curious and a little excited to disappointed when the demons Izy had summoned were less than stellar to say the least.

One was a mosquito a boat for a torso and the other was a blue elf with long, orange hair. The elf was certainly surprising coming from one who was known to use circus-themed demons in combat, but it did not change the fact that both of these demons were physically weak, and their defensive capabilities were not quite enough to prevent Celeste's demons from destroying them.

"That was interesting, but is that really all you have?" Celeste asked as Henry let out a sigh, Esmeralda smiling and saying, "Hold on, I think there's more to this. Notice that she has two level four demons out right now."

Eric nodded as one knight remarked, "Don't get your hopes up, your majesty. Everyone knows Izy doesn't have any demon heroes," Izy shaking her head and replying, "Actually, you are right that I didn't have one before, but thanks to Edward, I recently came in possession of one."

Everyone stared in stunned silence until Celeste retorted, "Surely you jest! Where could a ringleader possibly get a hold of a demon hero!?" Izy shrugging and replying, "He won it off of a travelling knight in a poker game. Though I doubt any of the knights from your kingdom would be nearly stupid enough to bet something like that, right?" the knights all looking at one-another as one hung his head and sighed, "I'd do something like that."

With this in mind, Izy exclaimed, "Now it's time to reveal my secret weapon, the reason I knew I would pass this test today!" a small hatch opening up on Izy's gauntlet as she held aloft a talisman from it, said slot known as the 'extra deck'.

"I now overlay my two demons in order to summon Utopia!" the woman stated as the elf and mosquito became small balls of light and combined together to form an even brighter one. And once the light faded, a knight clad in white and yellow armour appeared, brandishing an enormous sword and sporting a pair of shining wings.

"What is that?" Celeste uttered, her eyes wide with horror as Izy smirked and stated, "Well, he's a demon hero. What else would he be?"

With that, Eric clapped and exclaimed, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" one knight uttering, "Did you see how easy it was for her to summon that?" another adding, "Yeah, I gotta get me some of those pendulum demons."

With all said and done, Utopia flew toward Silent Swordsman and swung his blade downward, cutting open the warrior's blade as a big gash formed on his torso. The swordsman fell hard on his back and sunk into the floor while Utopia proceeded to drive his blade into Celeste's armour, her number dropping to thirty-six hundred. Sure, she was still doing much better than Izy as far as vitality went, but how long would this last with such a strong being working for the performer?

"I'll admit, someone like this isn't really my style," Izy said with a smile, "but you know what? Sometimes you just gotta leave your comfort zone to succeed, and I'm liking this guy already."

"I must say, I did not expect that," Henry said with a smile, "Perhaps she could be an asset to our army," Eric nodding with a fiery passion in his eyes as Izy's turn came to a close.

However, Celeste was not going to let this get her down as she sighed, "I have to admit, Izy, I have underestimated you. And to think you would actually figure out how to summon such a being without any past experience. I'm truly impressed, but even so, this won't be enough to save you from failure."

Izy frowned and stuck out her tongue as Celeste drew her next talisman, a deep breath escaping her mouth as she said, "It's been interesting, but you're still not fit to be a knight."

With that in mind, the commander activated a spell while saying, "With the spell, Monster Reborn, I can bring back any demon from either of our graveyards, and I choose my level five Silent Swordsman," the woman returning him to the magic field before adding, "And it doesn't end there as I have something even more powerful in store."

Izy gulped as the woman proceeded to place her last talisman on top of Breaker, the knight being sent to the graveyard as a bright light took his place. And when the light faded, the being that replaced him was a dragon made entirely out of yellow bones.

Izy's fear left her as she asked, "Wait, that's it? It's great that you have two level five demons, but they're not as strong as Utopia."

'That's right,' one knight thought, 'Izy has faced every one of our top-ranking knights except for Celeste. She doesn't know that our commander has a very strong demon hero.'

Celeste took a deep breath and said, "You're going to wish your ringleader had gotten you something stronger," as both of her demons became small balls of light and combined together, just like Izy's had when she summoned Utopia.

Izy gulped and groaned, "Why didn't I see this coming?" as both sword wielders were replaced by a tall pale man dressed in black with big wings of the same colour coming out of his back. Her wore a mask over his eyes and held a red dagger.

"I overlay both of my demons to summon Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon!" Celeste exclaimed with a serious look in her eyes, Izy now terrified out of her mind. Not only was this demon scary, but his power just barely outdid that of Utopia. She was certainly in trouble now.


	3. Chapter 3

Izy gulped as the beast stood before her. Whoever this Adreus was, he was bad news.

However, the performer's mood improved slightly as she smirked and said, "Well, I have to admit, you managed to genuinely scare me," Celeste raising an eyebrow as she added, "but I only feel it's fair to warn you that stronger doesn't necessarily guarantee you victory over my Utopia."

Eric was rather interested as Esmeralda nodded and said, "That's right, I have heard the stories of Utopia and how difficult it is to kill him," Celeste asking, "Well then, you seem quite knowledgeable for someone who knows nothing about my demons and how they work."

"Well, his power is written on the talisman," Izy replied with a shrug as the commander blinked and uttered, "Oh, yes, of course," Celeste replying, "Anyway, if you try to attack me, it'll be rendered meaningless as all I have to do is send one of the demons I used to summon him to the graveyard and it'll negate your demon's attack."

Adreus looked a tad worried before turning toward Celeste, the woman sighing, "Don't give me that look. You already know there's a way around this," the other knights curious as this was actually the first time they had ever seen Celeste summon the demon.

"Anyway, something worth note about demon heroes is that they all have abilities that are activated when you remove a demon that was overlayed to summon it," Celeste explained, "Adreus' ability is especially useful for getting around powers like Utopia's as at the cost of one overlay demon, I can remove any talisman of yours and have it sent to the graveyard."

"Wait, what!?" Izy retorted, her eyes and mouth wide open as Celeste put on an expression more serious than ever before, the knight tapping the talisman with Adreus on it.

This caused one of the two magic lights used to summon him to fly into her graveyard, reforming into the talisman it once was. As a result, Adreus pointed his dagger at Utopia and fired a red and black beam at the knight, piercing his armour as his eyes widened. With that, Utopia fell on his back and sank into the ground, Izy breathing heavily as she could not believe this.

She finally had the upper hand. This was the day she would win and pass the test. But no, now she had nothing to defend herself with and was going to lose, and all she had managed to pull off was four hundred damage to her opponent, a mere ten percent of what she actually needed to win this duel.

"I will give you credit where it's due," Celeste said with a frown, "You did surprise me, and that is not easy to pull off. Unfortunately, you are still unfit to be a knight."

The blond knight from earlier trembled as his teeth chattered, a tall woman next to him patting him on the shoulder but also looking rather sorry for Izy. Even Henry and Esmeralda looked disappointed, especially Eric who wanted Izy in the army so badly.

With all said and done, Celeste had Adreus charge at Izy and strike her armour with his dagger, the girl crying out in pain as the number on her gem went all the way down to zero. This caused the armour to crack open and fall apart, the woman falling to her knees, trying her best not to cry.

Celeste took a deep breath and returned her gauntlet to its normal state as the magic field vanished, the woman saying, "If I was an enemy, I would use this chance to end your life. That is how serious this is. Someone like you doesn't belong here!"

Izy slowly got up and took a deep breath, trying her best to calm down as she forced a smile and uttered, "It's okay. I'll just come back later when I'm good and ready," the commander sighing, "Please, your majesty, forbid this woman from entering our castle again! She is a waste of time and space!"

Henry was unsure of what to say, the other knights feeling rather intense while Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders. However, before either could say a thing, Eric stood up and exclaimed, "No! I deem this woman worthy of joining the army!"

The knights all stared at him in stunned silence as Celeste's mouth twitched. On one hand, the commander wanted so desperately to argue against this, but on the other hand, this was a member of royalty and while she could suggest actions from them, it was not her place to speak up against any final decisions.

Though shockingly enough, it seemed like Esmeralda agreed as she smiled and said, "You know, I, too, think Izy has proven herself worthy. Think about it. Did anyone here actually expect her to defeat our commander?"

The knights shrugged as one said, "Well, it looked like she had a chance, but yeah, no one would expect her to win at first."

Henry nodded and added, "And it's not because she failed the test but because, let's face it, not even our best knights have ever managed to overpower Celeste."

Izy looked confused as the man added, "The test was that applicants have to perform well in a duel with a high-ranking soldier, not actually win as that is unexpected of a newcomer. However, you did something today that no one else has ever done. You drew out Celeste's trump card in a test duel, a duel where no lives were on the line."

Celeste had a look of shock after hearing this as the king added, "Even you have to admit, that was impressive," the commander sighing, "I actually hadn't thought of that, but that is a good point."

Eric nodded and looked at Izy, the woman rather confused by all of this as the prince grinned, Esmeralda saying, "What I witnessed today may not have been masterful, but she definitely shows more promise than she used to. Besides, with someone like Utopia at her beck and call, it would be stupid not to accept her."

Izy's eyes sparkled, a big open-mouth smile forming on her face as Celeste sighed, "Well, if that is what you believe," the woman then walking over to Izy and saying, "Kneel."

The woman turned to her and nodded, saying, "Oh, okay," before bending down on one knee, Celeste sighing, "I would have preferred 'yes, ma'am', but that will do," before taking off her gauntlet and tapping it against each of Izy's shoulders while saying, "As decreed by the royal family, I now dub you Dame Izy."

Izy beamed brightly. There was no doubt about it. Today was the happiest day of her life and she could only imagine things getting better from here. Sure, she may not have won, but she never truly believed in being the best. She just wanted to protect people and this was her chance.

During this time, the other high-ranking knights were still off on the mission Celeste had assigned them to. Though they were all separated into teams of two.

Currently, two particular knights were in a cave where they were in the middle of a two-on-one duel with another knight, most likely from an opposing kingdom. One was a woman with red hair and a ponytail named Sevanne while the other was a young man with green hair named Nelson.

Despite the fact that these two were incredibly high in rank, they seemed outclassed as their opponent had summoned a dragon with five heads. This was one only heard of in legends and neither knight could believe anyone had gained possession of such a creature.

"I'll admit, you two certainly live up to your name," the opposing knight, who had been dressed in a cloak the whole time, stated, "Unfortunately for you, this guy here is hungry for fresh meat, and your demons will definitely suffice."

With that, all five dragons combined their breaths together to incinerate Nelson's demon, a red ogre with a hug club named 'Battleguard King'. Sure, this demon was tough, but the dragon's attack was more than enough to bring Nelson's gem down to zero thus shattering his armour.

Sevanne trembled as Nelson groaned, "Well, this is it for me," the woman shaking her head and pleading, "No, just accept your defeat and run! The kingdom needs you!"

"I've lost my armour," Nelson remarked with a sigh, "I'd rather die a hero than live a coward."

The enemy rose an eyebrow under his cloak as Nelson smirked, saying, "Yeah, you heard me right. Go ahead. Finish me off."

"I would, but you're not worth it," the cloaked knight remarked with a shrug before holding out another talisman and saying, "I only came here for this. I don't care whether you live or die."

Sevanne let out a sigh as she placed her hand up against her gem. This told the gauntlet that the owner had surrendered and thus the duel was instantly brought to a close, the cloaked knight bowing his head and saying, "Smart woman," before taking off with the talisman he had taken from the cave.

While Nelson was cursing the entire situation, beyond embarrassed to have dealt with all of that, Sevanne felt lucky that she and her partner had been spared. Whoever this cloaked figure was, he was certainly a threat to the kingdom.

However, the knights in the castle were ignorant to what was happening as two of them decided to show Izy around the areas she had not yet seen. These two knights in particular were the blond boy from earlier and the tall woman who had stood next to him during Izy's duel. The woman in particular had long black hair and a beautiful face. In fact, she was one of the few knights who was almost on the level of the kingdom's strongest.

"Say, I don't believe we've introduced ourselves yet," the woman said with a light smile, "My name is Taylor. It's nice to meet you," the blond man nodding and uttering, "I'm Neil."

Izy grinned and replied, "Well, it's great to meet you guys too. I look forward to working with you."

Neil then took a deep breath and said, "That was kinda cool the way you were able to stand up to Celeste like that. Even the best of us would be afraid to do that. I know I would. I'm pretty much scared of everything. I still think it's a miracle I was deemed worthy of being here."

Taylor gave the boy a warm smile and pinched his cheek, saying, "Someone's thinking negatively again. Remember what I said about that?" Neil groaning, "Okay, okay, I'll have more confidence! Just please stop doing that!"

Izy chuckled lightly and sighed, "Well, a part of me is kind of wondering if I really earned this. I mean, I didn't really do all that much during that duel."

"That's right," came a familiar voice as the trio turned to see Celeste standing there with a scowl on her face, Izy quickly giving an army salute and exclaiming, "Hello, sir, uh, I mean ma'am, I mean, um..."

"Save it," the commander retorted as she marched over to Izy and knelt down, glaring into her eyes, "I am absolutely certain the only reason the king and queen accepted that half-baked performance was because the prince was happy with it. I don't know what the prince sees in you, but I seriously doubt it's actual talent. I admit, you were more impressive than usual, but you're still not knight material. Just be glad rookies like you are only given low-level assignments."

Izy simply furled her brow and glared at the woman. She knew Celeste was strict, but it seemed the commander truly despised her, but why? What had she done to get on Celeste's bad side?

Even so, she knew better than to argue with her commander and as such, she said absolutely nothing as Celeste let out a sigh and said, "I can see logic is lost on someone like you. I need to speak with the king and queen about another new student anyway, someone who apparently didn't need to take the test."

As the woman left the area, Izy stared and asked, "What's her problem?" Neil uttering, "I-I don't know. She's strict, but she's never been this harsh before."

Taylor simply shrugged and replied, "Maybe she's trying to motive you, you know, tough love and all that. They say those with a lot of power are hard on those they see potential in."

Izy blinked and tapped her chin, saying, "You know, you might just be right," a light smile forming as she squealed, "Now that I've been accepted, she's using insults to get me to try harder! For a minute there, I thought she hated me!"

"She may be tough, but I don't think she hates anyone here," Neil replied with a grin, "I mean, I screw up constantly and I've never gotten on her bad side."

Of course, they were wrong as Celeste could not help but feel annoyed to have Izy under her wing. Even so, right now she needed to be calm as she was soon to have a serious conversation with the royal family. And it was not long before the woman stood before the entrance to the royal chamber.

She took a deep breath and opened the door, asking, "You wanted to see me, your majesty?" Henry smiling and replying, "Good, you're here. We have some big news that I'm certain will brighten up your day."

"Oh, yes, the new recruit," Celeste replied, "Is he really as good as you say?"

"Well, we know that in your care, he definitely will be," Henry replied as Esmeralda replied, "Especially since he has a lot of very strong talismans in his arsenal."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Celeste replied as Esmeralda grinned and replied, "Well, let's just say he's someone you know very well and is of very high status."

"Wait, you're not talking about-" Celeste uttered as Henry nodded and replied, "Yes, we are entrusting you with the responsibility of shaping our son, Prince Eric, into a great and powerful knight."

The commander stared in utter silence for a few seconds, a big part of her resisting the urge to smile. Henry was right. This really did brighten up her day. To think the prince himself would be her student. Sure, his decision to let Izy into the army annoyed the commander to no end, but there was still no greater honour than to train someone so important in the ways of combat.

But despite her excitement, Celeste continued to look professional as she gave an army salute and stated, "Understood, sire! Thank you for this incredible honour!"

"It's okay to show excitement," Esmeralda said with a warm smile, "Go ahead, we won't judge."

Celeste blinked and bowed her head, replying, "Thank you for giving me permission, but it is against my nature to act so childish," Henry rolling her eyes and saying, "We expect you to shape him into a true warrior starting tomorrow."

Celeste gave one last army salute before exiting, the king sighing, "So you're certain we made the right decision?" Esmeralda nodding and replying, "Trust me, honey, I truly believe he can do it."

Izy had just been shown to her quarters, specifically a barrack located outside of the castle. As was expected, she would not be sleeping in a separate room but would instead share a big area full of cots with the other knights. Though with so many in the army, it was a miracle there were enough cots for everyone.

"Well, this is certainly better than sleeping in a trailer," the woman said with a smile as Taylor nodded and stated, "You're actually quite lucky you joined when you did. There's literally only one cot that hasn't been taken yet, and best of all, it's right next to Celeste."

The woman then pointed at a bed located in the back of the room, Izy saying, "Cool, I get to sleep next to the commander. That might bring me good fortune."

At that moment, a few other knights entered the area as one of the females noticed Izy and said rather unenthusiastically, "Oh, hey. Welcome to the force. Hope you don't get killed on your first mission," Izy blinking as suddenly, something seemed to snap in Taylor.

The woman marched right over to the other knight and pointed at her, retorting, "Hey, were you mocking my new friend!?" the other knight sighing, "No, I was simply expressing concern," one of the men saying, "Hey, show some respect."

Izy smiled and bowed her head, saying, "Thank you, but I'm okay with ridicule," the man nodding and replying, "It is my pleasure," before bowing down and taking hold of Izy's hand, planting a light kiss on it.

Izy blushed bright when Taylor grabbed him by the back of his collar, saying, "Alright, that's enough, Will," the male knight groaning, "Aw, come on, you're such a buzzkill!"

"Don't let Will fool you," Taylor said with a serious look in her eyes, "He flirts with every new woman we get in the hopes that he can get some booty," Will retorting, "DO YOU HAVE TO TELL HER THAT!?"

Izy snickered and remarked, "Trust me, he wouldn't have gotten any from me," before looking around and asking, "Say, is this the only barrack?"

"Oh no, there is one specifically for men on the other side of the castle," Taylor replied as Izy sighed with relief, saying, "Oh, thank goodness. I thought I'd have to look at naked men every night before bed," the woman then asking, "So why are men allowed in here?"

"Because we're not changing during the day," another woman replied, "It's specifically the night and the morning that they can't enter, and it's the same for us. The only exception is if they have something urgent to report to us."

Taylor snickered and stated, "And to answer your next question, yes, we have had a few men try to take advantage of that exception," a few of the women glaring at Will as he retorted, "Oh, come on, I only did it twice!"

"And that's one too many times," came a familiar voice from behind him as the man quickly turned and gave an army salute, exclaiming, "Hello, ma'am, didn't see you there!"

Just as he said, Celeste was there now as she said, "Oh, good, you've already shown our new recruit to her quarters," Taylor nodding before asking, "Say, where were you anyway?"

"Showing our other new recruit where his quarters were," Celeste replied with a light smile, "I told him he didn't have to use the barrack as his home, but he insisted that we treat him like every other knight."

Will blinked as another man asked, "Um, what makes this new guy so special?" Celeste replying, "Oh, nothing, except that he's the prince," everyone in the room gasping.

"So, Eric's a knight now?" Taylor asked as Izy shrugged and said, "I figured he would be already. Lots of famous knights are members of royalty. Heck, it was a princess whose efforts legalized the right for women to fight."

Celeste blinked and said, "Well, you do have some knowledge of our land's history after all," the woman then clearing her throat and adding, "But yes, he will be training with us. Since he wishes to be treated normally, he'll be sent on rookie assignments for the first year or so like everyone else. That means anyone who's been with us for a little while might get a chance to work with him."

A few knights in the area looked excited as Celeste looked at Izy and sighed, "Unfortunately, that also includes you, but I'll try to keep that to a bare minimum."

"Look, I know you're trying to motivate me, but you don't have to be like that when we're not training," Izy replied with a grin, Celeste remarking, "What are you-?" the ex-performer then adding, "Especially since we're gonna be cot-mates in a matter of speaking."

The commander was rather confused until she suddenly remembered that the cot next to hers was the only one that had not yet been claimed, her eyes and mouth wide open. She wanted so badly to retort to this, but nothing came out. The very idea of sleeping next to someone so immature was horrifying.

Either way, Taylor said, "If it's alright with you, I'd like to show her more of the kingdom," Celeste simply nodding, her expression not changing for a second while the two exited.

However, while Izy was feeling good about this day, it seemed things were soon to take a bad turn as Sevanne and Nelson had returned to the kingdom. Nelson was stilled covered in bruises while Sevanne had him humped over her shoulder, the woman saying, "We'll have you resting in no time," the man remarking, "You don't have to carry me! I'm fine!"

Just who was the cloaked figure who had caused this? And was he even associated with the opposing kingdoms? Whatever the case, Nelson was happier to be alive than he let on. Still, there was no doubt things would get more interesting from here on in.


	4. Chapter 4

It was not long until Sevanne and Nelson returned to the castle to give Celeste their report, though while Sevanne kept a straight face while telling their commander the bad news, Nelson was having trouble hiding his shame. It was rare for the top knights to be defeated so easily, and he had always prided himself on his incredible strength, so the very idea of him losing was too much to bare.

Even so, Celeste kept calm and professional while saying, "Thank you for informing me. I will let the king know of this new threat right away," Sevanne nodding and sighing, "He used a really strong demon I'd never heard of before. He called it the Five-Headed Dragon."

Celeste's eyes widened as she uttered, "Did you say Five-Headed Dragon?" Nelson nodding and remarking, "Yeah, and the way he summoned it was unlike anything I've ever seen!? You know how some demons can fuse together, but only certain ones, right?"

Celeste nodded and replied, "That's correct, but they require the Polymerization spell to combine. Was this demon a result of fusion?" Sevanne saying, "Yes, but unlike most fusions, this one didn't require any specific demons. All he needed was five dragons at his beck and call to bring him out. I've never seen a fusion demon that was so difficult and yet so easy to summon at the same time."

"And what was its power like?" Celeste asked, "With five demons, it must have been strong," Nelson remarking, "You'd better believe it. Both its attack and defence power were five thousand."

"Just as I thought," Celeste muttered as Sevanne asked, "What was that?" the woman shaking her head and replying, "Nothing. Again, thank you for the report."

With all said and done, the commander gave an army salute and allowed the two to return to the barrack to rest up. Afterwards, she headed toward the throne room with a sense of urgency. She simply could not believe what she had heard.

During this time, Izy had grown tired of the barrack and decided to check out the castle some more along with Taylor as she asked, "So, what exactly do we do when we don't have missions?"

Taylor shrugged and replied, "Well, since we're still low in rank, all we can really do is stick around the castle in case something goes wrong. In fact, only some of us are sent on missions each day. If we were all sent out on business, no one would be around to guard the castle from invaders."

Izy nodded and said, "Makes sense," when suddenly, she noticed Eric walking around the halls with a look of excitement in his eyes.

When he noticed Izy, the boy slowly turned as a big grin formed on his face. He then walked over to her and said, "Hey there, newcomer. I don't know if you've heard yet, but we might be going on missions together."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that," Izy replied with a cute smile, "Congratulations, though I'm surprised you weren't already part of the army."

"Yeah, you can thank my dad for that," Eric replied with a light chuckle, Taylor rather surprised by how natural this conversation felt as the prince added, "Though, you know, he's just looking out for me. Though it's kind of funny. I almost imagined mothers to be more protective."

Izy snickered as Eric turned to Taylor and said, "Oh, and I look forward to fighting alongside you someday too. I'm certain that'll happen."

Taylor had to admit she did feel a little nervous as she rubbed the back of her neck, uttering, "Well, it's nice of you to say that."

Eric then let out a sigh and said, "Please don't let my royal heritage intimidate you. As long as I'm serving in this army, I want to be treated just like every other knight," Izy snickering and replying, "Well, I can certainly do that."

And this was not just her way of helping the prince feel at ease, either. Unlike most people, Izy saw everyone as a person, be them of high status or not. Sure, she knew when to act professional, but it was unlike her to be like that all the time.

Eric cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, dinner should be starting soon. Mind if I walk with you to the mess hall?" Izy blinking and asking, "Wait, you mean you're eating with us?"

"That's actually a good point," Taylor said as Eric shrugged and replied, "Only the higher-ups eat in the great hall. I've only just joined the force, so until my first year is up, I'll be eating with all of you. My parents told me I didn't have to, but as I said, I want to be treated like every other knight, meaning I will gladly eat whatever you eat."

Taylor chuckled and replied, "Well, you'd better be prepared. I don't mind the food we get, but the higher-ups often brag about how much better their meals are. They get to eat what the king eats. We just get soup."

"Well, I rather enjoy soup," Eric replied with a shrug of his shoulders as Izy nodded, saying, "Me too. I just hope they serve my favourite here," Taylor replying, "Not sure if that would be the case, but as I said, I don't mind it as much as the others. I often think everyone else expects too much."

Meanwhile, Celeste had given her report to the king and queen as Esmeralda gasped, "My word, the five-headed dragon?" Henry uttering, "So you're saying that monstrosity isn't just a myth?"

"Well, if what Sevanne and Nelson told me is correct, it's clearly not," the commander replied, "I just can't believe the enemy has it."

"Well, there's only one clear solution to this problem," Henry replied with a serious look, "I want you to send three of your best knights to seek this dangerous man down and find out which kingdom he belongs to. We'll wage an all-out attack to retrieve that talisman if we have to."

"There's one major problem, sir," Celeste replied with a sigh, "The man was wearing a cloak throughout the entire duel. Neither Sevanne nor Nelson saw his face," both members of royalty gasping.

"In that case, we might be in trouble," Henry grumbled as Esmeralda said, "Well, thank you for telling us. It's dinner time, anyway. Let's discuss further details on the way to the great hall."

Celeste gave an army salute as all three exited the throne room and made their way down the hall toward the great hall. While she refused to show it, Celeste was frightened. What if this man decided to have a duel with her? Would she be spared like her comrades?

Either way, Izy was looking forward to dinner as she, Taylor and Eric arrived. Neil noticed them and waved before taking a good look at Eric. The man slowly lowered his hand with a nervous look in his eyes, Eric sighing, "I wish the others were more like you, Izy."

"Aw, I'm nothing special!" the woman replied with a childish grin, Taylor walking over to Neil, despite him being in the middle of the line, and saying, "Thanks for saving us a spot."

The other knights looked rather annoyed but refused to make a scene out of this. After all, Neil always arrived first so he could save Taylor a spot behind him.

"Well, you are my best friend here," Neil replied with a light smile, Izy smiling and asking, "What about me? I could be your friend, too."

Neil's eyes widened as the knight standing behind Izy tapped her on the shoulder and whispered, "You don't wanna be his friend. Trust me, he's a total loser. How he passed the entrance exam is beyond me."

Izy simply refused to listen as she kept her smile and said, "Anyway, you seem like a nice guy, so let's be friends," Neil blushing lightly and uttering, "Wow, I don't know what to say. I'm not used to this."

"If it eases your mind, I would be happy to be your friend as well," Eric said with a grin, "Though it would help if we could learn a few things about each-other first."

Neil tensed up at the sound of this when everyone suddenly noticed the prince. At that moment, the knight standing in front of Neil turned and said, "Hello, Eric. Would you like to cut in front of me?"

"Me too," said the next person in line as every other knight made the same offer.

However, Eric simply folded his arms and replied, "Thanks for the offer, but I am content waiting in line with my new friends."

"Wow," whispered one of the women, "He's such a nice guy, putting up a front and pretending to be friends just to make the outcasts feel special," another nodding and replying, "I'm jealous."

Izy simply smiled and said, "You know, you're not what I expected from a prince. Most princes I've read about are arrogant and abuse their position to get special treatment."

"Really?" Eric replied with an odd look, "Well, that just sounds silly. We're supposed to be protecting people, not serving our own needs."

While he said this, the server signalled the chef to come over and whispered something into his ear. As soon as he heard what was said, the man nodded and quickly added a little extra salt to the soup as if they were making it better specifically for the prince. Considering the fact that only Taylor and Izy seemed to be treating him like he wanted to be treated, this was most likely the case.

Once Neil and the others got to the front, they each received a bowl of soup. But when Eric came up, the server asked, "Hello, sir. Would you like two bowls of soup?" Eric waving his hand and replying, "No, just one is fine, but thank you for the offer."

"Oh, I see," the woman replied with a light chuckle, "Watching that health of yours. Certainly what I would expect from the prince," the woman then pouring him his soup before replying, "I'm sorry we can't have nicer bowls."

"Oh, please, you're using what my father has provided you with," the boy replied with a friendly grin, "Don't worry about it. I think the bowl is lovely."

The woman chuckled and said, "You're too kind," as the boy headed over to the table Neil, Taylor and Izy were seated at.

The other knights would have asked to join them, but they were too scared of how the prince might react to that. However, Eric simply looked around and whispered, "I wonder why no one else wants to sit here."

"I know," Neil groaned, "It's because of me," Taylor pinching the man's cheek and saying, "Oh, stop talking like that. I keep telling you, you're not repellent."

"But you know I am," the blond groaned while Eric chuckled and replied, "I'm sure Taylor's right," Izy nodding and adding, "If they don't want to associate themselves with you, it's their loss."

Neil was still uncertain of this. After all, he had always been insecure, and needless to say, the other knights were not the only ones confused as to how he passed the entrance exam. Even he could not figure it out.

However, the conversation would have to wait as Izy took a small sip of her soup, her eyes sparkling as a wide smile formed. A bit of drool came down the side of her mouth as she sighed, "Oh my god, they made my favourite, barley soup."

"You know there's also rabbit in it, right?" Neil uttered as Izy sighed, "The other ingredient is a small detail to me. As long as there's barley in it, that's all that matters."

She then remembered her first time tasting it, when her mother whipped up a batch using barley her father had bought that day. She just loved the feel of the barley so much that she would request variations of it for dinner all the time.

While the woman allowed her tongue to soak in the flavours, Eric tried it himself and said, "This is my first time having this. I normally eat things like chicken, beef, fruit, fish and all those other things, but I have to say, this is nice."

Of course, as Taylor had stated earlier, no one else was nearly as impressed by this food as Izy and Eric were. Even Neil just simply treated it like an everyday dinner, the kind he could have anywhere. But then again, he was never the kind to set standards when it came to food. He was just happy to have a free meal.

Izy simply looked around and sighed, "Wow, Taylor, you're right. These people are killjoys," Taylor snickering and replying, "I never thought I'd meet anyone else who likes barley more than I do, though the meat is always the highlight for me."

Eric simply grinned and said, "The rabbit is alright, but I'm with Izy on this one. The barley just has this certain charm to it."

Everyone listening in on the conversation simply assumed Eric was doing this to be nice. After all, why would anyone of his status genuinely want to be friends with outcasts?

During this time, the high ranking knights were having their own fancy dinner along with the king, queen and Celeste. The commander looked around and said, "Oh yeah, Eric wanted to be treated like the others, didn't he?"

"It is strange not having him with us," Henry uttered as Esmeralda shrugged and replied, "Well, he's growing up and part of growing up is making the right sacrifices. Though, yes, I don't understand what eating with the lower ranking knights is supposed to accomplish. Sleeping with them is another thing all together."

The only knight not present in the great hall was, of course, Nelson what with his injuries from the duel with the cloaked figure. Sevanne would have stayed with him, but he insisted she go and enjoy dinner, though she did promise to bring him back whatever she had leftover.

Since Celeste had not seen the others earlier, she figured she could use some good news today as she turned to face the other knights and asked, "So, how did you all do on your missions today?"

"Too easy," a young man with flowing silver hair named Lance replied, "I swear, you take my skills way too lightly."

"Easy for you to say!" his partner, a woman with short red hair named Marie retorted, "I was doing all the work! You just stood on the sidelines, admiring your reflection in a puddle of water!"

Lance gasped in response to this as a more serious woman with blond hair with two buns on the side of head named Francine stated, "It was difficult, but nothing I couldn't handle," her partner, a buff man with tan skin and short black hair named Rocky remarking, "No one is a match for me!" the man flexing his muscles with a smirk.

The others seemed to have done a good job as well, Celeste happy to hear that as Sevanne bit her lower lip. She was starting to feel useless, as if no one could have done a worse job than she and Nelson had done today. But either way, what was done was done and there was no changing the day's events now.

"Say, where's the prince?" a young woman with snow white hair named Linda asked, the others turning to face the king as he cleared his throat and said, "Oh, yes, I have not yet discussed this with you. Eric has joined the army today."

"So you finally caved in," a young man with a scar across his left eye and messy green hair named Cedric remarked with a smirk, "Well, good for him."

"He wants to be treated like every other knight, so for the next year or so, he'll be eating and sleeping with the lower class soldiers," Esmeralda explained as the other knights seemed just as confused about this as the king and queen had been. It was one thing to devote himself to low level missions, but to give up his room and usual dinner seemed a touch extreme.

"Well, if he wants to give up all of this, it's his loss," a man with spiked orange hair named Patrick replied, Lance sighing, "I don't understand that boy. Why wouldn't he want the perks of us superiors. He's simply too good for the weaklings."

"Show some respect," Francine remarked, "Personally, I think those 'weaklings' as you call them are more worthy of knighthood than you are," the man smirking and remarking, "You're just trying to hide your true feelings from me."

Henry slapped his forehead as what counted as the last two knights, sipped their tea, the one on the right sighing, "Boys," while the one on the left replied, "Why can't they just get along?"

These two were conjoined twin sisters, each with brown hair. The left head, which had her hair in a ponytail, was named Pamela and the right head, with her hair down and cut short was Phoebe. These two made for an especially good team as they could each help the other strategize during a duel.

"Speaking of absentees," Lance asked, "where is Nelson?" Sevanne sighing, "He's recovering from an injury he received in combat."

The others looked rather shocked as Celeste added, "Yes, it seems a dangerous adversary has gotten a hold of a powerful beast called Five-Headed Dragon. Needless to say, if any of you run into him, taking him down will be difficult."

The others gulped as while they had never heard of this demon before, the name alone told them exactly what to expect. And dragons were already among the deadliest demons to be sealed in talismans. The thought of someone having control of one with five heads was terrifying.

Either way, it was clear that Celeste and Sevanne knew nothing else of this figure. Again, he had been hidden under a cloak, so it was not as if they knew exactly what he looked like. But what exactly did this man intend to do? What did the talisman he stole have within it? And why did he not kill Nelson and Sevanne when he likely knew they would tell their commander about him? It was a mystery for sure.

Soon enough, nightfall came as the knights all went into their barracks. While the men headed to theirs, Eric waved at Izy and said, "See you tomorrow," the girl nodding and replying, "Good night!" with more enthusiasm than that often shown by most people.

Soon enough, the knights were all getting out of their armour for bed as Izy thought, 'I'm living the dream,' while Taylor asked, "Say, just out of curiosity, where did you get your talismans anyway?"

"The same way I got Utopia," Izy replied, "Edward got them for me," one woman raising an eyebrow and sighing, "Good grief, there are a lot of irresponsible people out there. Don't they know betting talismans is dangerous?"

"Well, I'm happy either way," Izy said with a childish grin, "It's thanks to these that I can finally be a knight. And Edward was so nice about it too. He was originally planning on selling them in the black market, but when he saw how much I wanted to be a knight, he felt more than happy to give them all to me."

"Well, he sounds like a sweet man," Taylor replied with a smile as soon enough, the women were undressed and ready to sleep. Izy felt a little nervous not wearing clothes to bed for the first time in her life, but she figured she could manage.

Celeste once again arrived late and yawned before noticing Izy lying on the cot next to hers before groaning, "Oh, right," before heading over and trying her best to treat this as if someone else was sleeping there.

However, it was rather difficult as once she put her blanket over her, Izy tapped her on the shoulder with a big wide-eyed smile as whispered, "Night-night, commander."

Celeste gave her an awkward stare for a few seconds before nodding her head and replying, "Um, you, too," before closing her eyes and thinking, 'It's okay. At least she'll be quiet for the next eight hours.'

All the while, many of the guys were offering their own cots to Eric, one saying, "Take mine. It's nicer than the others," as another remarked, "As if! Mine is clearly softer!"

"It's alright," Eric replied with a light chuckle, "I'll just take whatever cot is available."

With that, he took a deep breath, thinking, 'Well, this is it. Come tomorrow, I'll finally start doing something with my life.'


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning was bright and beautiful as Izy awoke earlier than anyone else. She had even managed to wake up before Celeste, who was currently having a very nice dream.

Seeing this, a childish grin formed on the woman's face as she exclaimed, "RISE AND SHINE, EVERYONE!" Celeste's eyes popping open as she let out a loud gasp, soon clasping her left bosom and breathing heavily.

The others awoke, some looking rather annoyed. However, Taylor looked perfectly happy as she sprang up and said, "Thanks for the wake-up call, Izy! I've never woken up so early before in my life!"

"Neither have I," Celeste grumbled through gritted teeth before sitting upright and taking a deep breath.

Izy gave the commander an army salute and exclaimed, "Izy, reporting for duty, ma'am!" while Celeste gave her an awkward look before taking a deep breath and resting a hand on her shoulder. She then looked her deep in the eyes and growled, "It is MY job to wake everyone up, not yours. If you wake up too early, find something to do, but don't do my job! You are not the commander, got it!?"

Izy blinked and nodded her head, replying, "Okay," as Celeste thought, 'Yes ma'am would have been nice, but at least she understands.'

With all said and done, the women got dressed into their armour as Taylor beamed and said, "Well, we get to start bright and early. Isn't this exciting?" Celeste sighing, "No, we will not be started early before we still have to have breakfast before I assign any of you a task."

"When's that?" Izy asked as the commander replied, "Seven. In other words, a full hour from now."

Izy blinked as a few other women placed their hands against their hips and scowled at her, the woman chuckling nervously and saying, "Well, let's go patrol the castle or something. You never know when an invader might try to break in."

Taylor grinned and replied, "I'm up for that. Maybe I'll go wake up Neil so he can join us," Izy nodding as Celeste slapped her forehead, thinking, 'Don't encourage her, Taylor.'

After an hour passed, the knights were gathered in the mess hall for gruel. Neil let out a sigh and asked, "So, what did you have for breakfast back at the circus? I bet it was better than this."

"I'd always have fresh fruit in the morning," Izy replied with a shrug as Neil sighed, "Fruit sounds nice. The higher-ups get fruit," Taylor patting him on the shoulder and replying, "Don't worry, some day you'll get to eat fruit just like them."

No matter how much Taylor would try to convince him that he was better, Neil refused to believe it. He always had a feeling he was doomed to be a failure, which was a shame as many felt his talismans were too strong for him.

Eric was waiting in line when he noticed the others and signalled them to line up behind him, a big smile on his face. Once again, the other knights simply felt that he was trying to be nice and did not actually wish to be friends with the trio, but it hardly mattered as Taylor and Izy were more than happy to take his offer, Neil still having trouble believing all of this.

And Eric wanting to eat and share a place in line with him was not the only thing getting under his skin. Eric had volunteered to sleep in the cot next to the blond knight and even walked with him when he had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Neil wondered if the prince really did want to be his friend or if this was pity.

Whatever the case, the man was too nervous to address such an issue, especially since it would involve questioning a decision made by the prince. And at the very least, he knew Taylor and Izy's friendly nature were true, so that put him at a bit of ease.

"So, how was sleeping in the barrack?" Taylor asked as Eric replied, "Honestly, I don't know how the others deal with it. Those cots aren't as nice as they seem," Taylor and Neil staring in shock while thinking, 'Oh my god, is he actually complaining about something!?'

"Still," Eric replied with a grin, "It's not bad, so I can tough it out. I know I'll get used to it soon," Izy nodding and replying, "Hopefully, it won't take long. Honestly, the only thing I don't like is that we can't have night time clothes, so we have to sleep in the nude. Even in the room full of other women, it's kind of scary."

"I know what you mean," Neil groaned with a shudder, "It still frightens me to be naked in a room full of people," as Eric blinked and said, "Well, it was weird not wearing my pyjamas, but I didn't mind that too much. If anything, it made me feel free."

The boy grinned as Taylor grinned and gave the prince thumbs up, saying, "Adapting to new lifestyles is always healthy," before pinching Neil's cheek and asking, "Isn't that right?"

Neil winced and uttered, "Yeah, yeah, I know," as soon enough, the quartet was at the front of the line.

However, the knights were all looking at their gruel with curiosity as one knight pointed and asked, "Hey, what's with the gruel today?" another adding, "Yeah, it's light-brown."

"We decided to borrow some brown sugar from the bakers today," the server replied with a sweet smile, "We figured you all deserved something sweet for your hard work."

Some knights simply turned to Eric before shrugging and tasting it, all of them turning back to the prince and exclaiming, "You are the best thing to happen to us!"

"What did I do?" Eric asked, rubbing the back of his neck as Izy tapped her chin and said, "I think I get it. The kitchen staff's treating you like you didn't want to be treated."

"You mean they're making the meals better just to please me?" Eric asked as Taylor nodded and replied, "Yeah, that's the impression I got," Neil saying nothing as he nodded in agreement.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with making meals better, so I guess this is okay," the prince said with a shrug, "I just wish I wasn't the soul reason they were doing it. The other knights here are probably more important than I am. I mean, I haven't even done anything yet."

'He really is a nice guy, isn't he?' Neil thought with his eyes wide open, 'Maybe he's not lying about wanting to be my friend. Perhaps he won't mind if I ask him about it later.'

Once breakfast was over and done with, Celeste assembled the knights together in the training room and went over a variety of assignments. Of course the high-ranking knights each got their own jobs, even Nelson who had made a full recovery overnight. The man looked more than eager to prove his worth today and make up for yesterday's blunder, that was for sure.

However, when it came down to the low-ranking knights, Celeste pulled out a list and said, "Alright, there are a few requests today from the villagers."

Then pointing at a couple of knights, she stated, "Will and Ben, there's an elderly woman trying to bring some goods to our Brittle Town. I want you two to escort her there and keep her safe. Luckily, the path is short, but you might run into a bandit or two."

Both gave an army salute as Will groaned, "I never get paired up with women anymore," his partner rolling his eyes and remarking, "Gee, I wonder why."

Celeste went through more of the list, coming to Taylor and Neil before saying, "Taylor and Neil, you two are to make sure Mr. Green doesn't get robbed on his way to the market today," Neil sighing, "Thank god, something easy," while Taylor gave an army salute and replied, "Yes, ma'am!"

Izy turned to another knight and whispered, "How convenient that those two are together," the other knight replying, "Not really. Since Taylor's the only one who can stand Neil, he always goes on missions with her."

Izy then came to Eric and grinned, saying, "Since I heard you're eager to make a difference today, I got a slightly more advanced job for you, unless you change your mind."

"Not at all," the prince replied with a grin, "I can handle your toughest assignment."

"Good," Celeste replied with a light smile as she looked over the list and added, "This will be rather difficult, but a woman by the name of Sharon witnessed a spy from the Rose Kingdom trying to figure out how to break into the castle. Unfortunately, the spy escaped from prison and it's highly likely that Sharon will be targeted. I'd normally send one of the higher-ups to take care of this, but their jobs are currently top priority."

"I will do my best, ma'am!" Eric exclaimed with a grin as Celeste nodded and said, "You may take whoever you want with you as a partner, and since this task is really important, you may even have two allies for this one."

Eric nodded and replied, "That's very kind of you, but I only need one ally for this," the man then turning to Izy and adding, "And I'm looking at her right now."

"Me?" Izy asked, her eyes widening as Celeste gulped and uttered, "Um, Izy might not be ready for this kind of task. In fact, I was going to assign her a more simple one."

"Oh no, I can handle it," Izy replied with a serious look before giving an army salute, Celeste groaning while thinking, 'Why did I know she was going to say that?'

With that, the woman took a deep breath and asked, "Are you absolutely certain about this?" Eric nodding and replying, "I wouldn't have anyone else fight by my side."

The commander let out a sigh and said, "If you're sure, then best of luck to you on your first assignment," the woman giving the prince an army salute as both he and Izy gave one back. Izy, of course, failed to notice that Celeste had not directed her salute at her, not that it would have mattered too much to her anyway.

All the other women felt so envious of Izy right now, but at the same time, they still believed that Eric was only doing this to be nice. Again, why would a prince want to be friends with someone so unrefined and inexperienced?

And soon enough, the knights with assignments headed out of the castle to perform their duties while the remaining knights stayed behind to guard the castle. All-in-all, Izy and Eric were both beyond ecstatic, especially since their first assignment was such an important one.

After a bit of walking, the two came to the home of their client as Izy wasted no time knocking on the door. And soon enough, a middle-aged woman with long black hair and a tattered shirt answered with a nervous look. However, when she saw who was at the door, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you the knights who were sent to protect me?" she asked as Eric gave an army salute and replied, "Yep, Sir Eric and Dame Izy, at your service!" Izy nodding and adding, "What he said."

"Eric!?" Sharon gasped, "As in Prince Eric?" the prince replying, "Just Eric will suffice. I don't want you addressing me any differently just because I'm the king's son."

The woman then noticed Izy and asked, "Hey, aren't you that circus performer who kept trying to become a knight?" Izy nodding and replying, "Yep, I no longer do circus acts, though. I'm officially a knight now!"

Izy then gave an army salute as Sharon smiled and said, "Well, congratulations," though a part of her felt a little uneasy. Sure, the prince protecting her was reassuring, but she was uncertain of someone who had to take the entrance exam fourteen times to finally be accepted. And Izy dared not mention the fact that she lost the test duel after only dealing a small amount of damage to her opponent.

"So, we heard you might be the target of an assassin," Izy stated as Sharon nodded and sighed, "It's horrifying just thinking about it. I just know that spy got a good enough look at me."

"Well, rest assured, you have our absolute protection," Eric stated with a grin as the woman nodded and said, "Good, because I need to return a library book today and, well, I've never been late before."

"You will return that book on time," Izy said with a cute smile, "You can count on us to make it happen."

Sharon started to feel a bit more at ease. Something about Izy's confidence made her feel a tad safer with her around, though would it really be enough? After all, it was not like Izy had ever defeated anyone in a duel before.

During this time, Neil and Taylor had met up with their client, a kind old man named Leroy Green. He was in charge of accepting items from other towns and delivering them to market stand owners once a week, but since he was in his sixties and lacking physical strength, the man always delivered simple things like cabbages, straw and various other items that one would see just about anywhere.

The man had the biggest smile on his face as he said, "It's so nice to see you two again. Every time I see your faces, I feel like fortune has smiled upon me."

"It's always a pleasure to protect you," Taylor said with a grin as Neil nodded and thought, 'Yeah, because no one threatening ever attacks him.'

"So, what's today's cargo?" Taylor asked as Leroy replied, "Well, it's mostly the usual stuff, such as shipments of straw, chicken eggs, the usual. Though there is one item that is different today."

The man then held up a flattened jewel and replied, "I have to deliver one of these talisman things to the castle. The name is certainly not what I would expect from a demon. Simon the Great Moral Leader."

"You ever heard of that one?" Neil asked as Taylor shrugged and replied, "Not a clue, but we might have to deal with potential thieves today if he's holding onto something that valuable."

"A moral demon, imagine that," Leroy said with a laugh, "Next thing you know, they'll tell me there are angels trapped in this talismans," Neil whispering, "But there are angels trapped in talismans. They used their powers for evil."

Taylor shrugged and whispered back, "Yes, but let's not tell him about that, okay?" the woman winking at the blond who simply nodded with a light blush on his face.

During this time, Izy and Eric were walking with Sharon to the library. Luckily, it was only a ten minute walk away, so this would not be too bad.

"I feel so stupid," Sharon sighed, "If I hadn't held onto this book, I wouldn't have a reason to go out today."

"Hey, you didn't know any of this would happen," Eric replied, "This sort of thing could happen to anyone," the woman's eyes widening as she said, "You're not at all what I imagine a prince would be like. You're actually very nice."

Sharon then clasped her hands over her mouth and gasped, "I'm sorry!" Eric shaking his head and replying, "Izy has told me plenty about what other princes are like, and personally I find their behaviour deplorable. No one in the royal family should use his power as an excuse to be an ass."

Izy and Sharon both stared at the prince as he chuckled and said, "Pardon my language, ladies," Izy snickering and replying, "You really are one in a million."

However, while they were conversing, it seemed Sharon's paranoia was not unfounded. While this went on, two rather suspicious people had been following in the shadows. One was a woman with violet hair that went down to her shoulders while the other was a man with brown hair in a flat-top and a beard.

"These knights look like amateurs," the man said with a smirk, "Look at how little they seem to care about their duties. I say we strike now," the woman grinning and replying, "Yeah, I think the time is right. Their guard has completely dropped."

With that in mind, both assailants rushed at Sharon after equipping their own duelling gauntlets, though since they were not currently dressed in armour, they could not sustain any possible damage geared toward them. But this was fine. They were planning to trap Sharon in a magic circle so they could kill her while the woman would be unable to resist. And surprisingly, attacking someone without a gauntlet was not against the magical rules.

However, Eric heard this as he exclaimed, "Izy, follow my lead!" the woman having little time to think about this but nodding as she and Eric turned around and stood in front of Sharon just in time to stop the assailants in their tracks, both skidding to a halt.

With that, all four duellists wasted no time as they pressed their hands up against the gems on their gauntlets. And thus the magical field was born to start a duel, though since Sharon was standing rather close, she was also caught in the field meaning that unless Eric or Izy were standing in front of her, she could be chosen as a target.

"Oh no," Izy groaned as Eric smirked and replied, "Don't worry about it, Izy. Besides, these people aren't even wearing armour, meaning they have no damage points to protect them."

"You sure about that?" the woman remarked when suddenly, more metal sprouted from inside each assailant's gauntlet, soon spreading out and forming a suit of armour around the owner.

"You like it?" the man asked as Eric and Izy stared wide-eyed, the woman explaining, "It was a long time in the making, but after tireless efforts, our kingdom has managed to find a way to fuse our armour with our gauntlets, thus allowing us to save them for when we have to duel."

"It makes sneaking around and moving quickly a lot easier," the man added while Sharon trembled, Izy blinking and saying, "That's neat."

Eric nodded and rubbed his chin, saying, "Perhaps we shall suggest this advancement be looked into when we return to the castle, eh?" the assailants going silent as the woman turned to her partner and groaned, "Great, we just gave them ideas, didn't we?"

"The king's going to have our heads for this," the man whimpered as the woman gasped, "That is if we let them get away with this knowledge!"

"Oh yeah, we can just kill them, then no one will know," the man replied with a shrug, "I have to admit, I like the way your mind works."

"Well, that's not gonna happen because we will stop you!" Izy exclaimed with a smirk, Eric nodding and adding, "But before we duel, state your names! I would much prefer to know who I am fighting!"

"Okay, but you have to introduce yourselves afterwards," the man retorted as the woman sighed, "You should have told them it's impolite to ask for one's name without giving yours, but whatever, I wanna get this over with."

She then cleared her throat and stated, "I am Dame Shelly of the Rose Kingdom!" while the man grinned and added, "And I am Sir Grant of the Rose Kingdom! Together, we make a formidable team!"

"Oh, I didn't know we could end introductions with cool statements," Izy uttered as Eric grinned and said, "Well, let's give it a shot ourselves."

With that, Izy performed a twirl before spreading out her arms and legs, exclaiming, "A former circus performer, but now a certified knight, I am Dame Izy of Duel Kingdom!"

The assailants stared in utter silence as Eric took a bow and added, "And I am Sir Eric of Duel Kingdom. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but the circumstances don't call for that."

"Really?" Izy uttered as Eric laughed nervously and replied, "I may need to take some pointers from you."

Grant simply blinked and said, "We weren't really trying to look cool. I just felt like adding that last bit to let you know how dangerous we are," as Shelly shrugged and replied, "Who cares? These two are even more pathetic than I initially thought. Maybe having to fight through them won't be so bad."

With all said and done, the duel was about to get underway. Would Eric and Izy be able to succeed in their first assignment?


	6. Chapter 6

This was it, Izy and Eric's time to prove themselves. However, before the duel could truly begin, there was one matter that needed to be settled, or rather two.

"Hey," Izy whispered to Eric, "I've never seen a two-on-two duel before. How does it work?" Eric's mind ticking as he grinned nervously and replied, "Honestly, I have no clue. This is my first duel."

"They must be coming up with some kind of battle tactic," Shelly uttered as Izy laughed nervously and saying, "You're kidding, right?" as Eric shook his head and replied, "The kinds of the studies I did were for etiquette and the like. I never read any books on how to duel."

Izy took a deep before thinking, 'Okay, don't panic. You can figure this out,' her look of fear replaced by a confident smile as her mind added, 'After all, you figured out overlay summoning without any past experience. You can adapt to this.'

"Hey, what's all this!?" Grant snapped, "Come on, we don't have all day!"

Eric blinked and nodded before striking a serious pose and stating, "Since you two issued the challenge, you may choose whether to go first or second!" as Grant smirked and replied, "Well, of course we're gonna go f-"

However, he was cut off when Shelly held up her finger and whispered, "No, if one of them goes first, we can get a good idea of what we're in for. So let's give this one to them."

Of course, while Izy had convinced herself that she could figure out two-on-two duelling, a part of her was beyond nervous, a feeling she often tried not to show. After all, if neither she nor Eric could figure this out and one of them slipped up on the rules, that knight's gauntlet would explode along with the arm weilding it. Thus was the biggest danger with magical duels.

With all said and done, Grant and Shelly came to an agreement as Grant stated, "As knights, we also believe in honour, thus we will allow you the first move!" Eric blinking and replying, "Well, how very kind of you."

"So, which one of you wants to go first?" Shelly replied as Izy asked, "Oh, is it a choice?" the assailants blinking as she laughed nervously and uttered, "Oh, yeah, of course it is. I'm just not in these kinds of duels often, you know."

Eric could see why Izy was covering up her words like that. If their opponents knew that they were unfamiliar with the rules of team duelling, they would not feel the least bit threatened. Not only that, but Sharon would feel worried with inexperienced soldiers protecting her and they did not wish for that.

With all said and done, Izy held up her fist toward Eric and asked, "Rock, Paper, Scissors?" the prince shaking his head and replying, "No need. I believe in ladies first."

Upon hearing this, Izy felt a little nervous. As someone who knew nothing of team duels, she did not wish to risk losing an arm. Even so, she also did not wish the same fate on Eric and would much rather not force anything on her ally. After all, what kind of knight would she be if she ran from a challenge?

With that in mind, the woman nodded and grinned, saying, "Alright, I'll set up the first move."

Shelly and Grant were growing impatient as they simply wanted to get this over with and kill Sharon as soon as possible. But at the very least, Izy was ready to begin as she drew her first five talismans, the other knights following suit.

Izy was rather disappointed that she had not drawn either of her Pendulum demons this time, but she figured she could manage as she took a deep breath and thought, 'Dad, Mom, Edward, I'm going to make this my first victory, and I'm going to do it with the talismans that you all gave me. Edward, thanks you for the Performapals and their spells. They may not be my best demons, but they are my favourites. Mom, thank you for the others that Grandma left you in her will. And Dad, thank you for finding the Pendulum demons for me and learning how they work for my sake. I never would have gotten where I am without you.'

With all said and done, Izy was ready to begin as she set a talisman into one of the slots, a black floating sheet appearing before her. She then noticed a particular spell in her hand with a star on the top right-hand corner of it. This was a special type of spell that could only be used courtesy of a hidden slot on a duel gauntlet, and she was more than ready to use this.

"For my first move, I activate the field spell, Sorcerous Spell Wall!" the woman exclaimed with a grin as she used a button on the bottom of the square on her gauntlet's attachment closest to her. Thus a special compartment came open as she placed the talisman on it, the compartment closing as the spell was activated.

A bright yellow magic circle formed around the entire area as Izy squealed, Eric asking, "Oh, what does that do?"

"This is one of my favourites!" Izy squealed with delight, "As long as it's in play, all demons on my side of the magic field gain a bit of extra attack power during my turn. During the opponent's turn, their defence power goes up. Either way, it's one of the most beneficial field spells ever made and I just happen to own it."

"Maybe we underestimated this one," Grant uttered as Shelly sighed, "I'll admit, that is rather frightening, but we can work around that. Trust me, my turn's next and I'm gonna summon a demon too powerful to be stopped by that."

Izy then ended her turn by placing one talisman face-down and sideways on one of the squares, a protective boulder forming on her side of the field. Eric gave her thumbs up and said, "Not a bad start."

Even Sharon looked relieved to have someone so confident on her side as Izy thought, 'Actually, this is a good start. If this works out in my favour, this duel is ours.'

As stated, Shelly's turn was next as Izy decided not to question this. Considering the fact that Shelly stood right in front of her for this duel, she figured that must have been the reason for her to go next.

The violet-haired woman whipped out a talisman and added it to her hand as she smirked and said, "You've given yourself a good defence, but let's see if it's any match for my ultimate team of gears."

"Gears?" Izy asked, "You mean like those things used to move water wheels and things like that?" Shelly nodding and replying, "Yeah. Not many people know this, but there are demons who look just like them, and I own a set of those babies."

The woman braced herself, thinking, 'It's okay. My defending demon has seventeen hundred defence points and will receive another three hundred once he's been removed from his rock. There are no low-level demons strong enough to take that kind of power down, right?'

With all said and done, Shelly summoned a demon with yellow gears supporting its arms, red and blue gears making up its middle portions and two white gears for eyes, the violet-haired woman stating, "I'll start things off with my Geargiano MK-Two!"

Izy blinked and snickered before asking, "That's it?" Eric adding, "I hate to sound disrespectful, but with the way you built your demon up, I was expecting something stronger."

"Don't judge just yet," Shelly remarked, "because now you're gonna find out why I only summoned number two!"

"That's a good point," Izy uttered, "Where is MK-One?" as Shelly smirked and remarked, "You'll see him soon enough, but first I'll activate my Geargiano's special power, which allows me to special summon another Geargia demon from my hand or graveyard."

With that, the woman slapped another talisman onto the square next to her demon in order to summon another combination of gears with white eyes, only this one was blue on the outside with red and yellow on the inside. Its name was Geargiano MK-Three.

"Wait, there's a third one!?" Izy exclaimed with shock as Eric said, "Let me guess, this one lets you special summon the first one, doesn't it?"

"You're smarter than I first thought," Shelly replied as she grinned, adding, "That's right. If this demon is special summoned by the power of a Geargia demon, I can special summon another one, and I choose the original Geargiano!"

With that, the woman slapped another talisman onto her gauntlet thus bringing out a demon with a similar design, only this one had grey gears on the outside along with green and red gears on the inside. However, as impressive as this was at first, Izy could not help but feel underwhelmed.

"It's kinda cool that you were able to summon three demons at once, but is this really the best you can do?" she asked as Eric folded his arms and remarked, "Actually, there may be more to this than meets the eye. While these demons are, indeed, weak, they are all the same level. As someone who owns a Demon Hero, you should know exactly what this means."

"Oh, right," Izy uttered with her eyes wide open as Shelly smirked and said, "Your partner's right! I, too, have a demon hero."

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be great!" Grant exclaimed with a grin, "You weren't kidding when you said you had something guaranteed to break through a strong defence!"

"Why ever would you doubt me?" the violet-haired woman remarked before having all three of her gears form into balls of light and combined with one-another and slapping down a new talisman from her extra deck onto her gauntlet.

With that, the light faded to reveal a huge machine with a humanoid build. It had a giant blue and grey gear as a shield attached to its left wrist while the right hand wielded a golden gun with a gear-shaped barrel. Its torso was made from the most impressive metal Izy and Eric had ever seen with its arms and belly shiny and blue. Its chest was solid gold while its legs with green, red gears attached to the sides of the knees. Its ankles were gold while its feet were blue, and to make things rather strange, this demon had tiny wheels on the bottoms of its feet.

"Wow, I've never seen a machine like that before," Izy uttered as Shelly nodded and replied, "You could say this bad boy actually inspired a lot of our machinery, though no one has quite figured out how to replicated the shine, let alone the colours. In fact, people are now trying to replicate that odd weapon it holds in its right hand."

However, what scared Izy the most was that Shelly was not kidding about this demon's strength. With twenty-five hundred attack, there was no way the defending warrior stood a chance as Shelly exclaimed, "Now, allow me to demonstrate the might of my Geargiagear Gigant XG!"

With that, the machine aimed its gun at Izy's defending demon and fired a beam of light, the being revealed to be a warrior with black armour and snow white hair. His name was White Tiger Summoner and unfortunately, he was too weak to stand up to such awesome power as the beam caused him to cry out in pain, his body turning into a bright light and moving into Izy's graveyard.

'Oh no,' the girl thought with terror in her expression. However, Eric did not look too worried as he gave her thumbs up and said, "Don't worry, Izy. I'm sure we can handle this."

"Right, of course," Izy replied while taking many deep breaths. Eric was right. This was just a minor setback. Surely both knights could make up for this, right?

To start things off, Eric set two talismans into his spell slots before summoning a demon of his own in defence position. As such, just like Izy's beforehand, his demon was encased in a rock so it could be hidden from the opponents.

With his turn at and end, Grant smirked and asked, "That it? This is gonna be easy," before drawing a talisman. Right now, Izy really hoped that the prince had something good in store. Furthermore, she prayed that their opponents would not think to attack her now that she had no demons to protect her.

"Let's see how you deal with this, my Dark Blade!" Grant exclaimed as he proceeded to summon a knight clad in black armour. And as the name implied, he had two rather big blades in his hands. Though most alarming of all was that his attack power was quite high.

However, it seemed Grant was not yet planning to attack with the knight as he turned to Shelly and said, "Considering that spell will likely improve the defence of whatever he's defending with, I figure I should use your gear demon first."

"Yes, that does sound like the best course of action," Shelly replied as Izy and Eric both nodded while the prince thought, 'I get it. So it's a lot like a single duel only with both of us combining our efforts. In other words, we're sharing the same side meaning we can both make use of one-another's talismans.'

Now was not the time to think about this, though, as Geargiagear aimed its gun at Eric's defending demon and opened fire, Izy thinking, 'So he couldn't have chosen to ignore Eric and attack me instead. Though I don't know if that's enough to help right now.'

It seemed Eric might not take in a direct attack, though, as when the rock was broken, the demon was revealed to be another mechanical one, only this one had a green egg-shaped body with a blue head along with arms and legs of the same colour. However, that colour shifted to red in response to the attack as the beam did not seem to effect it at all.

"Nice try, but my Gogogo Golem can withstand one attack per turn when in defence position," Eric stated, "and since Izy's field spell effects him, his defence is now too high for your Dark Blade to penetrate," Grant's eyes wide with horror.

"I'd be impressed if it weren't for my Geargiagear's power," Shelly said with a smirk as her partner turned to her and uttered, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"At the cost of one of the demons used to summon this bad boy, he can cancel out the powers of all face-up talismans you control," Shelly explained as one talisman under Geargiagear headed into her graveyard, "Not only does it cancel out your Sorcerous Spell Wall, but it also negates your golem's power!"

With all said and done, the beam passed through Gogogo Golem as it exploded into a ball of light and headed into Eric's graveyard. Both the prince and ex-performer were now scared as Grant had Dark Blade charge at Eric, sending a strike into him as the prince winced in pain, the number on his gauntlet dropping to twenty-two hundred.

However, Izy's fear only heightened when she noticed something even more terrifying. Her number also dropped. This meant only one thing. Both Izy and Eric were acting as a single unit. If either one lost his or her armour, the other would as well.

Grant ended his turn by setting a talisman and saying, "Thanks, Shelly. You're the best," the violet-haired woman bowing her head and replying, "Any time, partner."

When Izy's turn started, she was unsure of what to do now. While Eric was a little worried, the woman was terrified for the first time in years. She had always tried to optimistic and do her best, but this was unlike any other duel she had been in. This time, a life was at stake. If she was unable to turn things around with her next move, not only could she and Eric possibly lose their lives, but Sharon would definitely lose hers.

"You can still win this, right?" Sharon asked as Izy blinked, unable to find the right words. What if she drew a useless card this turn? What if everything was riding on this one turn and she ended up failing?

It took Eric a while, but he could see the doubt in Izy's eyes. Sure, he cared a lot about this quest, but he also cared a lot about Izy and to see her unsure of herself after all that confidence she had during her duel with Celeste was painful. As such, the man took a deep breath and rested his hand on her shoulder.

The woman blinked as he smiled and said, "Go on, it's your move," Shelly smirking and saying, "Clearly your partner has realized how hopeless your situation is. You may as well give up."

Sharon gulped but soon perked up when Izy sighed, "No, he's right. I can't give up! This fine citizen is counting on us to keep her safe, and we'll make sure no one harms so much as a hair on her!"

Sharon smiled and replied, "Thank you so much," as Izy turned to her with a grin and replied, "Just doing my job," before drawing a talisman.

'Right, I can do this,' the woman thought as she took a deep breath and looked at her hand. Her eyes went wide as not only did she draw a really useful talisman, but she had another that could also be of help and she had every intention of using them both this turn.

As such, she set each one. One was placed in a slot while the other was face-down on a square. And with that, her turn came to a close.

"That's it?" Shelly asked with a smirk, "I knew it. You two aren't even close to our level," the violet-haired woman drawing a talisman.

Shelly started her turn by setting a talisman in a slot. She then proceeded to summon a demon with an even stranger design than that of Geargiagear. This one looked a lot like Geargiano, only this one was seated in some strange vehicle with his arms covering his face.

"What is that?" Izy asked as Shelly smirked and explained, "This is Geargiaaccelerator. I'm not exactly sure what that machine the gear is riding in, but his power is still useful as I'm able to special summon him in defence position when in control of another Geargia demon. And you know what that means, right?"

"You can summon another demon!" Izy gasped as Shelly grinned and replied, "Well, colour me impressed. You actually caught onto that right away."

With that in mind, Shelly proceeded to summon what looked like a Geargiano MK-Two, only this one was operating a set of brown mechanical legs and wielding two large square-shaped shields of the same colour. Eric and Izy were both nervous as the violet-haired woman proceeded to have both machines form into balls of light and fuse together, the light fading to reveal an even stranger demon than Geargiagear.

This one had a blue visor on its head and a giant gear on its back. Its colour scheme was not too different only the legs matched the arms. There were red gears attached to its hips and another latched to its left wrist like a shield.

"Unlike most knights, I happen to have two demon heroes," Shelly said with a smirk, "This one's name is Gear Gigant X!"

'No,' Izy thought before remembering her face-down talismans. If she could get this right, there was a possibility that she could turn things around. She just needed to time this right.

However, it seemed Eric had other plans as he revealed one of the talismans he set. Thus a trap was activated as a big twister headed toward Grant's set talisman.

"Oh no," Grant groaned as Eric smirked and stated, "This trap is known as Dust Tornado and it destroys any spell or trap on the field."

"Nice try, but have you already forgotten about my Geargiagear's power?" the woman asked before removing one of the demons used to form the giant thus negating the activation of Eric's trap. As a result, Grant's talisman remained on the field as she added, "Though you have given me an idea."

Izy bit her lower lip as Eric gave her thumbs up. It was as if he planned this, like deep down he knew he would have to force Shelly to give up one of her overlay demons for the brunette's strategy to work.

With that, the violet-haired woman placed a talisman into a spell slot, saying, "I won't need this, but Machine Assembly Line will give my giants a little boost of strength just in case."

Now it was Izy's turn as she revealed her own trap while saying, "Magic Jammer allows me to negate a spell card at the cost of one of my talismans," the woman then sending her last talisman to the graveyard as a purple smog headed toward Shelly's spell.

However, Shelly snickered and remarked, "Did you forget that my Geargiagear still has one overlay demon left?" before sending the last demon into her graveyard thus blocking out the effects of the trap. Since it had not been face-up before, this was necessary.

But despite her hand being bare and the odds looking worse now that both gear giants had received a slight power boost, Izy knew she could turn things around. With Geargiagear no longer able to use his power, Shelly could no longer stop Izy's strategy from working.

However, she refused to show it as she put on a serious face and said, "I'll admit, you two are most formidable. As such, I admit defeat," Sharon terrified out of her mind as Eric turned to the woman and winked at her, seeing through Izy's bluff.

However, neither Grant nor Shelly could see it as they smirked, Grant shouting, "Alright, finish her off for good!" the violet-haired woman remarking, "You don't need to tell me twice."

But when Geargiagear charged up his gun, Izy activated the talisman she had placed in the slot earlier as an armour emitting a dark aura latched itself to the mechanical giant. Shelly's eyes widened as Izy smirked and said, "Sakuretsu armour destroys an attacking demon, meaning your Geargiagear is finished!"

"Have you already forgotten what he can do!?" Shelly retorted with a smirk. However, it was not long until she remembered that she had used up all three overlay demons earlier, her eyes widening as she whimpered, "Oh no."

"Now who's the one with the bad memory?" Eric asked with a smirk as he gave Izy thumbs up, the woman returning the gesture while Geargiagear exploded, a light taking its place and heading into Shelly's graveyard.

With that, Shelly's strongest demon had been destroyed. But even so, she and Grant still had two left. Would this one move from Izy really be enough to turn the tides in her and Eric's favour?


	7. Chapter 7

Though Shelly's Geargiagear had been destroyed, she still seemed confident as she smirked and said, "Well, I have to admit, that was actually quite impressive. You drew out all of my overlay demons so you could destroy my demon with that trap of yours. Unfortunately for you, it's not over yet."

First off, Shelly returned on the demons in her graveyard to her hand and stated, "When Geargiagear is removed from the magic field, I can return any other Geargia demon to my hand from the graveyard. I won't tell you which of the three I've brought back, though."

"As if it makes a difference," Eric remarked with his arms folded, "Without your Geargiagear in your extra deck, you have no reason to use either of those weaklings."

"Oh yeah," Shelly groaned before shaking her head and remarking, "It doesn't matter anyway! I'll use Gigant X to take down that defending demon of yours!" Grant nodding and saying, "That's right. We're not out of this duel yet!"

Of course, Izy's defending demon did not have a high enough defence against that, and to make matters worse, Geargiagear's power still prevented her Sorcerous Spell Wall from helping her out for the rest of the battle phase. Even so, she had a feeling things would turn out even more favourably for her and her ally.

Shelly wasted no time as she had her Gear Gigant X charged at Izy's defending monster with its fist raised. And when it destroyed the stone, the being inside was revealed to be an old man in green armour and a helmet that resembled a turtle shell. This one's name was Green Turtle Summoner and his defence was nowhere near high enough to resist Gigant's power. Thus the man cried out in pain as he vanished into a flash of light and headed into Izy's graveyard.

"Wow, you really only had that one talisman, didn't you?" Shelly asked tauntingly. However, Izy was not the least bit concerned as she smirked and remarked, "Hate to say it, but my summoner has a special power, one that you just activated."

"Wait, what?" Shelly uttered as Izy explained with a confident smile, "See, when Green Turtle Summoner is revealed, whether it's by my terms or a result of him being attacked, I can target any demon of my choosing and destroy it, and I pick Gear Gigant X!"

Shelly and Grant were both terrified as a snake came from Izy's graveyard and bit into Gigant, the mechanical giant cracking before exploding. It soon became a flash of light and flew into Shelly's graveyard, the violet-haired woman's jaw dropped and her eyes wide open.

With that, Shelly lowered her head and sighed, "Fine, your partner can have his turn now."

Grant went wide-eyed, slowly turning to face his partner before asking, "Um, Shelly, why didn't you use my Dark Blade to attack?"

The violet-haired woman's eyes and mouth widened as he spat, "OH NO! I WAS SO DISTRACTED BY THE DEATH OF MY DEMONS THAT I COMPLETELY FORGOT!"

Eric smirked and thought, 'Well, they're easily distracted. We can use that,' as Izy could not believe her strategy had actually worked. She had the biggest smile on her face right now while Sharon also seemed fully confident in the knights.

"Great job, Izy," Eric said with a reassuring grin as he drew his next talisman, "Now let's make things even better. You look like you could use yourself another talisman, eh?"

"You better believe it," the brunette replied as Eric placed a talisman into a slot and activated it, saying, "I now activate the spell, Graceful Charity. This allows us to draw three talismans, but in exchange, we each must also discard two."

As Izy drew her three talismans, her eyes sparkled at what she had drawn. She had a trap a spell and a mage, the mage in question being Stargazer Magician. However, Stargazer was level five meaning she could not summon him normally without making a sacrifice. Meanwhile, the spell could possibly help her if she drew the right talisman next turn.

But while Izy was having trouble deciding what to sacrifice, Eric seemed fully confident as he wasted no time picking out two talismans from his hand. With that in mind, Izy took a deep breath and thought, 'Sorry, Stargazer, but the odds of me drawing Timegazer are slim. It's time I start thinking more strategically. Besides, if I do draw him next turn, I won't be able to summon anyone. Eric might, but Shelly's turn comes after mine and she could do something to turn things back in their favour within that time.'

With that in mind, the brunette sent Stargazer and her trap to the graveyard. At the very least, her field spell would finally be able to benefit her if she was able to draw a summoning talisman next turn. After all, with lives on the line, Izy could no longer afford to make mistakes.

And right now, it seemed like Eric would not even need pendulum demons to help him summon more than one demon as he called out a small girl with short pink hair and sported a magician hat and cape. She also held a blue popsicle and licked it with a devilish look in her eyes.

Shelly and Grant were both spellbound as her attack was only eight hundred, Grant laughing, "Wow, what a weakling! After your partner went to all that trouble, you still can't defeat my Dark Blade!"

"Don't be so quick to judge," Eric remarked with a smirk as he proceeded to summon a small crow with a blade replacing one talon on each foot.

"Caligo Claw Crow can be special summoned if I control another dark type demon," the prince explained with a grin as Shelly groaned, "Oh no, they're both level two."

"Well, you catch one quick," the prince said almost mockingly as both demons transformed into balls of light and combined with one-another. And soon enough, that light faded to reveal an elf clad in white and gold armour, axe heads attached to a pair of shoulder guards. In his hand was a white sword with a golden handle while a purple handkerchief covered his mouth.

"Oh no," Grant uttered as Eric smirked and said, "That's right. As he is, my Shining Elf's power is weaker than that of your Dark Blade. But when you take into account Izy's field spell, his power becomes just high enough to win this battle."

Izy's eyes sparkled, a big open-mouth smile forming as she had actually allowed this strategy to work in its entirety. However, it seemed as if Eric was not finished as he added, "Though I don't think that's good enough, so I intend to add to the damage after you took such a huge chunk out of our damage points earlier."

Shelly and Grant were frightened out of their minds as Eric activated two spells. The first shot a beam of light into Shining Elf's hand as a wand with a green gem held in its tip formed. The other spell conjured up a ball of light that flew around the elf while the demon in question flexed his muscles.

"Both of these spells have increased his attack strength," Eric explained with a confident grin before pointing at one with a picture of the elf himself surrounded by that light and stated, "XYZ Unit increased his power by two hundred multiplied by his level, giving him a four hundred attack increase. It's also given him another overlay unit so I can use his power a third time if needed."

Shelley and Grant were even more terrified as the prince added, "As for the wand, that's a spell known as Wonder Wand. Any spellcaster equipped with this gains five hundred attack. And in case you can't do the math in your head, that all equals a total of twelve hundred, thus his attack had gone from sixteen hundred to twenty-eight hundred."

"Oh my god, that's awesome!" Izy exclaimed with a big grin while Sharon let down a light tear, the woman feeling truly safe now.

With that, Shining Elf used his wand's magic to increase the strength of his sword as he charged at Dark Blade, slicing the knight in two. Grant trembled as the elf then proceeded to strike his armour, bringing both his and Shelly's damage points down to three thousand. Sure, they still had more than Eric and Izy had left, but this was a huge step in the right direction as the prince's turn came to a close.

However, it seemed Grant was not done for just yet as he said, "Wait, I got something I can use," the man then revealing the trap he had set earlier, saying, "With Call of the Haunted, I can bring back any demon from my graveyard and equip them with this spell!"

But as the man returned his Dark Blade, Shelly stared awkwardly at him, the look turning to anger as she barked, "You moron! During a team duel, you can also take from my graveyard! You could have brought back my Geargiagear Gigant XG!"

"Oh no, you're right!" the man exclaimed with a look of terror as Eric smirked, asking, "Well, what are you gonna do now?"

Grant took a deep breath and drew his next talisman, Izy thinking, 'It seems these two have trouble thinking straight when the odds are turned against them. That definitely works out for us.'

However, Grant did not seem to agree as he grinned and said, "Hey, Shelly, I'm about to make up for my blunder. I got the perfect combination right now."

"Well, go on," Shelly replied with a look of interest while Grant nodded and slapped a talisman onto one of the squares.

This brought out another knight clad in black armour, only this one was taller and more slender with arm blades. The demon's strength was certainly similar as Grant said, "This here is Gearfried the Iron Knight. Upon first glance, he may not look like much, but mark my words, with the right spells, he can become quite deadly."

"Oh, I love this!" Shelly exclaimed as her partner activated a spell and stated, "Unlike all of you, I don't have any demon heroes. But what I do have is something almost as good, and my Release Restraint Spell will show you exactly what I mean."

Suddenly, Gearfried let out a loud battle cry as his armour was blasted off of him by a burst of strength. This revealed his true form, a buff young man with long black hair and a blade in his hand. Grant smirked and said, "Say hello to Gearfried the Swordmaster!"

While this was certainly surprising, and Izy's field spell was no longer upping Shining Elf's strength this turn, this did certainly seem like a threat. However, Eric remained calmed as Gearfried still had slightly less attack power than the elf.

However, the prince's tune would soon change as Grant activated another spell, this one changing Gearfried's sword into a black one with a dark power emanating from it. Now both Izy and Eric were unsure of how this would go down as Grant smirked and said, "This spell is the Sword of Deep Seated. Anyone equipped with this gains five hundred attack."

"Hold on," Eric said with a smirk, "Unfortunately for you, my elf has a special power, one that I had almost forgotten about."

With this in mind, the knight removed one of his overlay demons as the elf sent a blast of magic into Gearfried. This brought his attack power back to what it was before as Eric took a deep breath and stated, "See, when my opponent summons a demon, I can remove an overlay demon to reduce that target's attack by five hundred, the exactly same amount Gearfried just gained."

Izy took a deep breath as Grant gritted his teeth. With his last move, the man proceeded to set his last talisman into one of the slots. Whatever he had planned, he intended to have this turn things back in his and Shelly's favour.

As Izy drew her next talisman, she took a deep breath and noticed it was her Performapal Whip Snake. Sure, he was not the best choice, but in case something went wrong, she knew he could still help. As such, the brunette summoned the cobra to the field as he used his tail to lift his top hat and tip it to Shelly.

However, what made this even better was that Izy had a use for the spell she had chosen to save, and she wasted no time as she inserted the talisman into a slot. With all said and done, a light shot out and hit Whip Snake's Tail as an axe made of iron formed in it, the snake smiling bright.

"Oh, I think I know that spell," Shelly said, "That's Lucky Iron Axe. It has a similar effect to Sword of Deep Seated."

'Oh well, that only means that snake's attack power for this turn will be twenty-five hundred,' Grant thought with a smirk, 'Sure, that'll be deadly if it hit me directly, but it won't thanks to my little friend.'

Izy pointed at Gearfried with a confident grin on her face and exclaimed, "To start things off, I'll have Shining Elf destroy Gearfried!" the elf once again powering up his blade before charging toward the swordsman.

However, Grant smirked and said, "Too bad," before revealing the talisman he had set at the end of his turn. Suddenly, a chain wrapped around three sticks of dynamite shot out of a big stone tablet and latched itself onto Gearfried's arm as the swordsman proceeded to swing it around, ramming the dynamite into the elf's face, causing an explosion that sent him to the graveyard.

Eric's eyes widened as Gearfried proceeded to strike his armour, bringing his and Izy's damage points down to down to nineteen hundred. Both Izy and Eric were confused as Shelly gave her partner thumbs up.

"The trap I just activated is an equip trap called Blast With Chain," Grant explained with a grin, "Any demon equipped with this gains five hundred attack. Also, the dynamite serves another purpose," a blast of magic reforming the sticks as the man stated, "If this is destroyed by a talisman's effect, I can target any talisman I want and destroy it. Good luck getting around this one."

It really seemed hopeless now. Gearfried's attack had gone all the way up to thirty-one hundred and neither Eric nor Izy had anything that could overpower that.

However, hope had not been lost as Whip snake turned to face his owner and smiled at her, shaking his axe. Izy gasped and nodded, thinking, 'That's right. I can destroy Gearfried.'

With this in mind, the brunette beamed bright and exclaimed, "Alright, let's do this, Whip Snake!" the cobra giving an army salute before springing himself off the ground and spinning vertically toward the swordsman.

"What good is that gonna do you?" Grant asked with a smirk, "Your demon was already too weak to begin with!"

"Yeah, but unfortunately for you, Gearfried's defence power didn't increase and my Whip Snake can switch one demon's attack and defence per turn!" *

"WHAT!?" Shelly and Grant exclaimed as the cobra gazed into Gearfried's eyes, the swordsman groaning as his attack changed to twenty-two hundred.

And with that, the snake sliced open the swordsman as he was sent to Grant's graveyard, the axe striking the man hard as his and Shelly's damage points were reduced to twenty-seven hundred. But while they were still technically doing better as far as resistance went, both knew they had used up all of their trump cards.

With that in mind, Shelly turned to Grant and sighed, "As much as it pains me to admit it, we're outmatched," Grant nodding and replying, "I suppose this calls for a tactical retreat."

As such, both knights pressed their hands up against the gems atop their gauntlets as the magical field vanished, Sharon blinking and asking Izy and Eric, "Does that mean you two won?"

Izy nodded with a grin and replied, "That's exactly what it means!"

Shelly and Grant retracted their armour into their gauntlets as they each let out a sigh and knelt down in respect to their opponents. Despite things starting so well for them, they had truly lost this duel and had to face the consequences for it.

Eric bowed his head and said, "You two were most excellent adversaries. Though I'm not sure what your king would say, I feel like you have done the Rose Kingdom proud!"

Izy nodded with a big smile as she added, "Even so, you do kinda have to go to prison now," Shelly sighing, "We know."

And with all said and done, Sharon had been saved and Izy and Eric's job had been taken care of. Or at least they hoped so. Hopefully, the king of Rose would not send anyone else to try and assassinate her.

But what of Neil and Taylor? What was going on with them during all of this?

A little bit before Izy and Eric's duel had started, the two arrived with Leroy at the marketplace. However, the old man stopped next to another building as he said, "Can one of you wait out here and guard the merchandise? I need to deliver something personal to Mister Hall."

"Oh yeah, it's his birthday today, isn't it?" Taylor asked with a big smile as Leroy laughed and replied, "It certainly is. I always make it my duty to give him a present before delivering anything else, especially since his home is right next to the marketplace."

"Why just one of us?" Neil asked as Taylor replied, "Silly Neil. You know one of us has to stick with him just in case, right?"

"Oh yeah, his protection is our top priority," Neil replied with a nod as Taylor smiled and replied, "You can watch the cart. I'll protect Leroy from any potential thieves."

With that, she and the old man entered the building as Neil took a deep breath, sighing, "It's fine. They'll probably only be in there for a minute."

He then tensed up and added, "But then again, Leroy and Graham will probably want to talk for a while, and the elderly do like to talk a lot. But that'll probably only go for ten minutes. Nothing bad can happen in that time."

However, just as the blond knight had said this, a slender young man with white hair crept toward the cart and reached into it, digging around while Neil was none-the-wiser. After a bit of searching, the man found the talisman was he held it up only for Neil to turn and spot him, both staring at each-other for a few seconds.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Neil exclaimed as the man smirked and retorted, "Fat chance!" before taking off and thinking, 'Nothing personal, but my king really wants this.'

"Hey, get back here!" Neil exclaimed as he raced toward the man, "Come on, please, don't do this to me!"

However, it seemed the thief was not fully prepared for this as he wound up face-to-face with a dead end, the man turning as Neil took a deep breath and said, "Right."

With that, he pressed the gem atop his gauntlet as a magic field formed. At the very least, this thief did not seem to have a gauntlet of his own, so at least he would be unable to fight back when Neil brought out his demons.

However, he never truly wanted to have to resort to killing and as a result, the man uttered, "You're trapped. Come with me and I'll spare your life."

The thief smirked and remarked, "I hate to break it to you, kid, but I'm not just some petty thief."

With that, he pulled out a gauntlet from a satchel strapped to his side and slipped it onto his hand. Afterwards, he pushed a button on it that caused a suit of armour to come out and cover his body, a smirk on his face as he said, "I'm Derrick of the Rose Kingdom. Nice to meet you, squirt."

Note: Yes, I know this effect only works during the main phase. Don't forget, I let you know in advance that I would break a few card rules for story purposes.


	8. Chapter 8

This was it, Neil's moment to shine. Sure, he had never won a duel in his life. Like Izy, the only reason he was accepted into the army was because the king deemed his skills good enough, though the blond never knew why.

Even so, it was time he stopped being a weakling. This time he would do something right as he had every intention of getting the talisman back from the thieving knight, Derrick.

"Well," the white-haired man said with a smirk, "since you issued the challenge, it only stands to reason that you pick whether to go first or second."

The blond knight looked over his hand and thought, 'Alright, this looks okay,' as he gulped and uttered, "I'll... I'll go first!" as Derrick nodded his head and replied, "Well, I look forward to seeing what you got for me."

'Right, no more relying on others,' Neil thought before gulping hard, the man setting a talisman into one of his slots and placing another one sideways on one of the squares, a floating rock appearing before him.

"Not bad," Derrick replied with a grin as Neil thought, 'Is he just being condescending,' while the Rose Kingdom knight drew another talisman and sighed, "Alas, what a terrible hand. Why, the best I can do is this!"

With that, the white-haired man proceeded to set three talismans into slots, activating one of them as a big pot with a mellow face appeared. With that, he looked over the three talismans on the top of his deck and nodded, saying, "Yes, this will certainly suffice," as he held onto one and placed the others back, his gauntlet magically shuffling them.

Now Neil was scared to think what would happen next as Derrick sighed, "I just love my Pot of Duality Spell. Makes any lousy hand into a winner," as he then proceeded to summon a doberman made entirely out of molten rock, saying, "For instance, check out my Flamvell Firedog."

Neil was terrified out of his mind as the dog charged at his defending demon and bit into the rock, shattering it to reveal a young white-haired man with wings on his arms and a green vest, namely Mist Valley Falcon. The blond knight gulped as the warrior's head was bitten off, his body vanishing and heading into his graveyard.

"Well, that's a shame," Derrick said with a shrug, "If you'd place that demon in attack position instead, he would have been able to resist that. But now that my Firedog has killed him, I can activate his special power, which allows me to summon another fire based demon from my deck just as long as it has less than three hundred defence power, but how many demons could I have that fit that description? That's such a low number."

Neil was trembling with his eyes wide open, his teeth chattering. And it would only get worse from here as nine talismans floated up from Derrick's deck in front of his face, the Neil unable to believe his eyes. He had this many to choose from?

However, it seemed Derrick already had the perfect one in store as he held onto it with his pointing finger and thumb while saying, "This one's perfect," before slapping it onto a square.

With that, a warrior made of rock appeared before him. This demon held a spear made of molten lava and wore a brown iron belt with white and red circles covering it.

"Meet my Laval Lancelord," Derrick said with a smirk, "He's quite scary, isn't he? And best of all, I can attack with him since my battle phase isn't over yet."

'No!' Neil thought as the warrior rushed at the blond knight and struck his armour with his spear. This brought his damage points down to nineteen hundred as Derrick laughed and said, "Don't feel discourage. I'm fairly certain that was just luck."

But just as he was about to end his turn, Neil suddenly remembered his trap and spat, "HOLD IT!" before activating it. A huge gust of wind came from a stone tablet that had formed in front of the boy and forced both of Derrick's demons into defence position," the blond taking a deep breath and saying, "Your demons may be tough, but they both have incredibly low defence making them easy pickings for me next turn."

"Oh dear!" Derrick exclaimed with a look of shock before replacing that with a smirk and adding, "Though you should have used that before my battle phase started. It would have protected you from harm."

'Oh no, he's right,' Neil thought with a look of terror, 'And even if I destroy one, he still has the other.'

Neil then shook his head as his mind added, 'But that's okay. If I at least get rid of that Laval Lancelord, I might stand more of a chance.'

With that in mind, Derrick's turn came to a close as Neil drew his next talisman. And right now, there was only one demon in his hand that could protect him from damage and he had every intention of bringing him out.

A grey man with the head and wings of a brown bird formed before him as he said, "By banishing one wind demon in my graveyard, I can special summon Garuda The Wind Spirit," Derrick genuinely impressed by this as the blond added, "And since I only special summoned him, I can still perform a normal summon, and I choose to sacrifice Garuda in exchange for Dragunity Primus Plus!"

With that, Neil sent his Garuda to the graveyard as a muscular man appeared before him. This man had a gigantic shield strapped to his back and held a whip. He wore a white armoured vest with grey scales on the sides. He wore an orange and blue helmet shaped like the head of an eagle and orange and gold shoulder guards.

"Well, colour me impressed," Derrick said with a smirk while thinking, 'What an amateur. If he hadn't forced my demons into defence position, he could have actually hurt me with that.'

Even so, it was too late now as Neil actually felt confident, thinking, 'I did something right! Now to let him have it!'

And with that, Primus Plus sent his whip toward Lancelord and struck him hard, his body filling up with cracks before crumbling and collapsing to the ground. His remains formed into a flash of light and headed into Derrick's graveyard as he gasped in panic.

"Let's see what you can do now!" Neil exclaimed with a bad attempt at a threatening look, all the while thinking, 'That's right! No more relying on others! I'm going to do this!'

However, it seemed Derrick had a response to this as he revealed one of his set talismans, saying, "You just allowed me to activate my trap, a little beauty I like to call Backfire."

"What!?" Neil exclaimed with his eyes and mouth wide open, a flame shooting from a stone tablet and pelting his armour. This brought his damage points down to sixteen hundred as Derrick explained, "See, when a fire based demon I control is destroyed, I can used his trap to deal five hundred damage to the opponent. It's like a form of revenge."

However, Neil did not feel too threatened until Derrick revealed his other trap, saying, "Also, I choose to use this, Spiritual Fine Art Kurenai before the turn ends. But don't worry, all it does is require me to send one of my own demons to the graveyard, and I choose my Firedog since I have no other options."

"What does it do in exchange for the demon?" Neil asked as Derrick grinned and replied, "Glad you asked. You see, it deals damage to my opponent equal to the attack power of the demon I sacrificed."

Neil's eyes were wide with terror as he knew this was it. A burst of flame came from another stone tablet and struck his armour hard, bringing his damage points all the way down to zero as his armour came open, falling to the ground as steam floated up from it.

Neil fell hard on his back while Derrick let out a sigh and said, "Luckily for you, you're not worth killing," as he pressed the gem on his gauntlet to signal the end of the duel.

He then walked over to Neil and knelt down, the blond knight staring in absolute horror as the white-haired man snatched his talismans and started looking through them. Neil gritted his teeth with fury and spat, "HEY, THOSE ARE MINE!" only for Derrick to elbow him in the skull and knock him out cold, sighing, "My, you're persistent."

The man looked through the talismans and said, "Wow, you've got some impressive demons in here. It's a shame that their powers have to be wasted on someone who clearly doesn't know how to use them."

He then noticed one particular demon and held it up. It was a demon hero, a dinosaur by the name of Grenosaurus. Derrick whistled with admiration before saying, "Well, this has no place in a deck like this. You can keep the others. The king's going to love this."

With that, Derrick tossed the remaining talismans in front of Neil's face as they all scattered about, Neil slowly regaining consciousness just in time to see this. His eyes and mouth were wide open as his body twitched, light tears rolling down his cheeks.

As bad as it would have been for the other talismans to be stolen, this one was personal to him. The way he had obtained this particular demon was a story no one would believe, and even he had trouble believing it had happened. This particular talisman literally came to him one night, inserting itself into his deck.

'I don't know why you chose me,' the blond knight thought while sniffing, 'I've never even been able to summon you. I don't know if I'll ever manage to do that.'

And of course, while he thought this, Derrick had already walked passed him since he no longer had anyone standing in his way. There was no doubt about it. This Rose Kingdom Knight would surely get away with taking Simon the Great Moral Leader and it was all Neil's fault, or at least that was what he thought.

During this time, Taylor and Leroy exited the house of Graham Hall as Leroy laughed and said, "That man is always so lively. Hard to believe he and I are the same age."

However, it was not long until both noticed something off, Leroy asking, "Say, where did that Neil fellow run off to?"

Taylor looked around and said, "I don't know. It's not like him to leave his post," when Leroy looked checked to make sure all of his product was still available before saying, "Oh dear, that talisman seems to be missing too."

A serious look formed on his face briefly as he thought, 'Just as I thought. He must have gone after whoever took the talisman,' but soon shifted back to his calm and collected state when Taylor turned to him and said, "Don't worry, Mister Green, I'll find him."

With that, the woman went down on all fours and started sniffing the ground like a wolf. Sure, she may have worked for royalty, but she had actually been raised in the wild and thus she had developed good animal instincts.

With that, she quickly sprinted toward where Neil's scent was coming from. She soon found him still lying on his back. He was still conscious but felt too weak to move.

Taylor got up and sprinted over on two legs, gasping, "Neil!" the blond knight slowly looking up to see the black-haired woman looking at him with concern.

"Taylor?" Neil uttered before sighing, "Oh, right, you can smell me from anywhere," the woman placing her hands on his shoulders and asking, "Who did this to you?"

"A knight from the Rose Kingdom," Neil uttered with a sigh, "He stole the talisman. I tried to stop him, but he beat me with ease. And then he took my Grenosaurus."

Taylor's eyes and mouth were wide open as she gritted her teeth. With that, she got down on all fours and sniffed the ground before saying, "I can smell your talisman. He hasn't gotten far."

With that, the woman rose to her feet and turned to Neil, saying, "Don't worry, Neil, I'll tare him limb from limb if I have to," before sprinting off, Neil uttering, "Well, at least someone competent is on the job now, unlike me."

The blond knight let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He figured that as long as he was unable to do anything, he may as well take a nap to replenish his strength.

All the while, Derrick was doing his best to look inconspicuous. As long as he was not wearing his gauntlet, let alone armour, he knew none of the citizens would suspect him of working for the Rose Kingdom. All the while, he had a smirk on his face while thinking, 'These are the kind of people Duel Kingdom is hiring? The king should just launch a direct attack against them if they're this weak.'

However, he was caught off-guard when Taylor found him, sprinting toward him with fury in her expression and pouncing on him. The white-haired man's eyes and mouth were wide with shock as he fell hard on his stomach, groaning, "What was that?"

Taylor then rose to her feet and glared at the man, saying, "Get up and fight me like a man," the citizens in the area staring in confusion.

"Dame Taylor, what are you doing?" a young woman asked as a middle-aged man adding, "What is going on here?"

"This man stole two demon heroes for the Rose Kingdom!" Taylor exclaimed while pointing at him, the citizens looking shocked as Derrick figured there was no point hiding his true identity. After all, if Neil was any indicator, there was no way this other knight could possibly be good enough to best him in combat, so he had nothing to lose.

With that in mind, the white-haired man smirked and clapped his hands, saying, "Well, bravo. Let me guess, you're associated with that other knight who fought me?"

"Yes, he's my ally!" Taylor retorted with fury in her expression, "You will pay for the horrible things you have done, but first, I want you to hand over the talisman you stole from him!" the citizens backing away from the area as they could tell how serious this was.

Derrick snickered and replied, "If you want it, you'll have to win it from me. But it seems unfair I should be the only one with someone up for grabs," Taylor retorting, "Fine! If you beat me, I'll give you my demon hero!" the citizens gasping at the sound of this.

"Well, aren't we brave?" Derrick asked tauntingly, "Very well, this should be fun," the man then pulling out his gauntlet and strapping it on, once again forming the armour around him.

"Wow, that's kind of cool," Taylor uttered with her eyes sparkling as Derrick grinned and replied, "I know, right? It was hard to pull off, but it helps prevent us from drawing attention to ourselves."

Even the citizens were taken aback as both knights pressed their hands up against the gems on their gauntlets. Thus the magic field was born and both were ready to start, Taylor exclaiming, "Since I issued the duel, I will go first!"

"Fine by me," Derrick replied with a shrug as Taylor narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Don't worry, Neil, I'll teach this guy a lesson he'll never forget!'

To start things off, Taylor set a talisman in a slot while thinking, 'This can be useful later,' the woman then placing a talisman on the middle square of her gauntlet.

This allowed her to summon a muscular woman with spiked red hair, a blue breastplate and a blade with a blue handle with red spikes, Taylor saying, "This here is my Amazoness Swords Woman. Though she's quite tough now, she'll be even more hard to handle next turn when I boost her power with this."

Taylor then proceeded to insert another talisman into a slot, only this one was activated as a great power flowed through Swords Woman, her muscles increasing in size momentarily. All the while, Derrick nodded and thought, 'Well, this one does at least seem to have more confidence than that last kid, but she's insane to think fifteen hundred attack will beat any of my demons.'

"This spell is Amazoness Fighting Spirit," Taylor explained with a smirk, "With this in play, any Amazoness set to attack a demon with a superior attack strength will gain an extra thousand strength!" Derrick now somewhat impressed. Even so, he could tell that this spell would only help Taylor's warriors during her turn, meaning it would not work if Derrick himself was the one issuing the attack.

"Wow, that is quite an impressive display," Derrick said with a smirk as Taylor's turn came to a close and he drew a sixth talisman, "And looking over my hand, I can't think of anything that could possibly top that, well, except maybe this."

The man then smirked as he placed a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet. However, this seemed rather underwhelming as rather than bringing out one of the deadly demons he pitted up against Neil, this one was a small fox with a tiny flame on the tip of his tail.

Taylor, however, knew better than to jump to conclusions about weak demons and asked, "So, what makes this demon so special?" Derrick blinking and asking, "How did you know I had something else planned?"

And it seemed he did as he slapped another talisman right next to the fox. As a result, a big iron cage appeared as a big flame with a face came from the top and let out a threatening roar. Fireballs surrounded the beast as one of them touched the box and lit his entire body on fire, the fox crying out in pain as he was soon turned into light and sent to Derrick's graveyard.

"As long as I have a fire based demon on my side of the magic field, I can special summon Goka, the Pyre of Malice from my hand," Derrick explained, "In exchange, I have to destroy one of my fire based demons, and, well, poor Fox Fire was the only one I could pick."

Taylor frowned and thought, 'I can see why Neil had trouble with this one. That was unexpected,' as Derrick had the fire demon send a group of fireballs toward Swords Woman. As a result, the amazon's skin caught flame as she cried out in panic, her body turning to light and heading into Taylor's graveyard.

Taylor had a light smile on her face as Derrick said, "It's a shame you couldn't save your warrior with that spell of yours. Before claiming that you can use a spell, make sure you actually can make use of it otherwise you come across as kind of an idiot. No offence."

"You're right, I wasn't able to keep my Swords Woman alive, but I was able to hurt you," Derrick looking rather confused until the flames redirected themselves toward his armour and struck him, bringing his damage points down to thirty-three hundred.

"How did you-?" the man uttered as Taylor explained, "See, any damage I would take from a battle with Amazoness Swords Woman is dealt to my opponent instead," Derrick nodding while thinking, 'Okay, that could be actually be a problem. Perhaps this one isn't quite as big of a loser as her partner.'

With all said and done, Derrick ended his turn by setting two talismans into slots. Whatever these two contained, at least Taylor had a good start.

And now her second turn had begun as the woman drew her next talisman and said, "Your demon is tough, I'll admit, but thanks to my Amazoness Fighting Spirit, I don't need a high level warrior to defeat him."

With that, Taylor proceeded to slap a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet. Thus a more slender woman appeared only this one had long blond hair shaped like lightning bolts, the top covered by in cloth. She also wore a cape of the same material and held a thin sword in her hand.

"My Amazoness Paladin may not seem like enough to take down your fire demon right now, but just wait," Taylor said as the amazon let out a loud cry, flexing her muscles while gritting her teeth, Taylor adding, "Oh, and something else worth note is that her power allows her to gain one hundred attack for every Amazoness I control, including herself."

Derrick gritted his teeth and thought, 'Alright, I was mistaken. That kid I fought earlier was just a loser. There are strong knights in this kingdom, after all. But luckily, I have just the setup to prevent this from working.'

As Taylor had her paladin launch an attack, Derrick revealed his first spell and said, "It pains me to render that fighting spirit spell of yours useless, and so early no less," the spell in question sending a huge twister toward the Amazoness Fighting Spirit tablet and shattering it into tiny pieces.

Taylor's eyes widened as she gritted her teeth, stopping her attack as Derrick smirked and said, "I'm so sorry that I had to ruin such a wonderful strategy. I'll admit, it was a good set-up and it's such a shame to waste it, but I'm afraid your paladin has been rendered useless."

And with that, Amazoness Paladin rammed her sword into the iron cage as Goka laughed wickedly, allowing his flames to consume the woman as she cried out in pain, turning into a flash of light and flying into Taylor's graveyard. With that, the same flames flew into Taylor's armour as her damage points dropped to thirty-six hundred.

However, it seemed Taylor at least had a backup plan as she set another talisman into a slot and ended her turn. Hopefully, whatever she had planned could help her otherwise she would likely be brought down by the time Derrick's turn was over.


	9. Chapter 9

As Derrick's turn started, Taylor knew she would need to pull off some kind of incredible strategy. After all, she was wide open for a direct attack and all Derrick would have do is deal a total of thirty-six hundred damage to finish her off.

All the while, Neil continued to lie on the ground, thinking, 'Maybe I should just quit the army. Taylor's probably gonna beat that guy for sure, but she shouldn't even have to do this. She's only in this mess because I'm not good enough to do this sort of thing for her.'

Derrick then grinned and said, "By the way, before each of my turns officially starts up, Goka summons a fireball token," the demon having one of the fireballs floating around him become an official demon on the magic field, "And he has another effect, too. At the cost of one fire-based demon, I can bring his attack power up by five hundred, and I can use his tokens for that exact purpose."

This seemed true as Goka proceeded to inhale the fireball, swallowing it as his flames increased in size, Derrick adding, "It's a shame it only lasts one turn, but it's still very useful in the grand scheme of things. Now I'll only have to deal an additional eleven hundred damage to finish you off for good. Oh, but I don't have anything that strong."

Taylor knew he was just playing with her as he smirked and added, "Well, except maybe this," the man placing a talisman next to Goka's as a red lion with a dark-brown braided beard and two swords appeared. He also wore a golden war helmet and a pair of black pants.

"I had almost forgotten about my Fire King Avatar Barong," Derrick said with a laugh as Taylor frowned. This man was really starting to get on her nerves.

But just as Derrick had Barong launch the first strike, Taylor activated the talisman she had set at the end of her turn, Derrick blinking as a light came from a stone tablet, Amazoness Paladin taking form and raising her sword to block the lion's incoming attack. Derrick's eyes widened as Taylor smirked and explained, "The trap I just activated is called Amazoness Willpower. It allows me to bring back any Amazoness from my graveyard, though she has to be in attack position and I have no control over whether she attacks during the battle phase or not."

"Big deal," Derrick remarked through gritted teeth, "Your paladin is too weak to destroy my Barong anyway."

"Don't be so sure," Taylor retorted as she revealed her other trap, one by the name of Amazoness Archers.

"What does that do?" Derrick asked as Taylor replied, "Not only does it force all of your demons to attack, but it also reduces their attack power by five hundred. And, well, you were already planning to attack with all of them anyway, right?"

Derrick's eyes and mouth were wide open now as Barong's swords were shattered, the paladin striking him down the middle as he was sent into Derrick's graveyard. Though it did not end there as the paladin then struck the white-haired man's armour, bringing his damage points down to twenty-eight hundred.

But while Barong had been overpowered, Goka had not yet attacked and thanks to the strength increase he had given himself at the start of Derrick's turn, he was still too much for Amazoness Paladin to handle. And thus she was once again struck by one of his fireballs and sent to the graveyard, the fire hitting Taylor's armour and reducing her damage points to thirty-two hundred.

Derrick simply chuckled and said, "You did a good job keeping me at bay, but whatever will you do now?"

Taylor frowned as she remarked, "It seems you've already forgotten that it's my turn."

With that in mind, the woman drew her next talisman. However, she had used up almost her entire hand. It would certainly be hard getting something that could truly help her now.

However, when she saw the talisman she had drawn, a light smile formed on her face as she set a talisman into a slot. She then proceeded to place another talisman in on a square, though strangely enough, she set this one in attack mode. As such, a slender woman with a blue tiger-skin tube top and skirt combo and silver hair appeared. This was her Amazoness Trainee and unfortunately, her power was not particularly high.

"Well, look at that," Derrick said with a shrug, "Your entire hand has been wiped clean and you made the mistake of summoning a weakling in attack position. Too bad."

With all said and done, another fire token formed as Goka consumed it. Derrick then smirked and said, "Just in case you have another inconvenient tactic planned, I have a little something to make sure you take in damage this turn no matter what."

The white-haired man then placed a talisman on the square next to Goka, thus bringing out a short elven girl with a pointy orange hat, a green tunic and a magic wand. However, upon seeing this, Derrick placed the back of his hand against his forehead and gasped.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed in the most irritatingly fake way Taylor had ever heard, "I just summoned my Raging Flame Sprite. But she's such a weakling! Oh well, hopefully this Salamandra will help."

With that, the man activated a spell talisman as a light flew into the elf's hand, replacing her wand with a sword surrounded by fire, Derrick sighing, "Alas, all it did was bring her attack power up to eight hundred. That's not enough to destroy whatever you have defending yourself."

"Just cut to the chase!" Taylor demanded with a look of annoyance, Derrick sighing, "So impatient."

He then smirked and said, "But still, I admire a woman who doesn't mess around, so I'll show you my sprite's little magic trick."

With that, the elf shot fire from her sword into Taylor's armour, the black-haired woman gritting her teeth as he damage points dropped to twenty-four hundred, Derrick explaining, "Oh, by the way, that direct attack wasn't all she had to offer. See, after dealing direct damage to your armour, her attack power goes up by one thousand," the elf grinning and flexing what little muscle she had in her right arm, the tiny lump tripling in size as her grin widened and she shifted her eyebrows up and down.

Now Taylor did feel rather threatened as Derrick exclaimed, "Now for Goka to defeat that weak fighter of yours!" but just as the fire demon unleashed his fireballs toward the trainee, Taylor activated the talisman she had set earlier, an orb of light surrounding Amazoness Trainee as the fireballs were absorbed upon impact.

Derrick blinked and asked, "What is that?" Taylor remarking, "This is a trap known as Safe Zone. See, I needed my Amazoness trainee to be in attack position for this to work. As long as that orb is around her, she can't be targeted or destroyed by anything. The only catch is that I can't use her to attack you directly, but I don't intend to attack with her anyway."

As Derrick's turn came to a close, the white-haired man frowned and thought, 'Okay, it's time to take this more seriously. As far as I know, she might just be doing this to stall for time, but I can't be too careful, not when I finally have the edge in this duel.'

Taylor knew she would need something really good to turn the tides back in her favour as she drew her next talisman. Sure, her trainee may have been invincible with that barrier surrounding her, but Derrick still had his Raging Flame Sprite to deal direct damage to her armour. And with the elf's attack at eighteen hundred, this was even worse than anyone could have imagined.

Even the citizens in the area were starting to get nervous as one asked, "So, you think she's gonna die?" another remarking, "Don't say that! Taylor's one of the best knights we got!"

But as the black-haired woman saw her next talisman, a smile formed as she thought, 'Thank you.'

With that, she proceeded to place a talisman on the square next to Amazoness trainee, an orange tiger with a scar on his right eye taking form. Derrick seemed rather confused as Taylor smirked, saying, "In case you're wondering, Amazoness Tiger isn't the one I plan to attack you with."

The white-haired knight's eyes and mouth widened as both of Taylor's fighters formed into balls of light and fused together, Taylor exclaiming, "Now I will overlay both my Amazoness Trainee and my Amazoness Tiger to summon the demon hero, Fairy King Albverdich!"

Derrick's eyes widened as a young man with long silver hair appeared and a white robe appeared. His ears were more like tiny white angel wings and he had a small pink fairy floating next to him. Said fairy flew over to Derrick's demons, looked them over and nodded her head before fluttering back to her master and whispering information about them into his ear, the man nodding his head in understanding.

"What did she say about my demons!?" Derrick spat as Taylor shrugged and remarked, "Hell if I know. But honestly, I'd be more worried about their lives if I were you."

Derrick stared in fear and alarm as he was genuinely scared now. And it only got worse when one of the talismans used to summon Albverdich was sent to the graveyard, both Goka and Flame Sprite looking weaker.

"At the cost of one overlay demon, I can reduce the attack and defence of all of your demons by five hundred," Taylor explained with a grin, "I figured I may as well do that in case you had something planned."

While Derrick actually did not have anything planned for this, he was still frightened out of his mind. He could not believe that after facing such a weakling, his next opponent would be this good.

However, Taylor did not attack right away as she folded her arms and thought hard about this. On one hand, if she allowed Flame Sprite to live, the elf would deliver a direct attack to her armour. As if that was not bad enough, the elf's attack would raise to twenty-three hundred.

Even so, Albverdich could easily just lower her attack power next turn and finish her off then. If anything, it was high time to get rid of Goka. Sure, Derrick was yet to use those flame tokens for anything different, but now that an additional five hundred attack would no longer be of help to him, who was to say he would not use one of those tokens as a sacrifice for something more powerful? After all, three demons out at once could be a lot more threatening than one.

With that in mind, Taylor pointed at Goka and exclaimed, "ALBVERDICH, DESTROY GOKA, THE PYRE OF MALICE!" Derrick gulping as the the prince pointed forward and had his fairy fly at the fire demon's cage, soaring right through it and putting a big hole in the spot she had hit.

With that, Goka roared in pain and was sent to Derrick's graveyard as the fairy rammed her skull into his armour, bringing his damage points down to twenty-two hundred. The white-haired man took a deep breath, all the while, and thought, 'It's fine. It's not like Goka's my most powerful demon anyway.'

With that, Taylor turned came to a close as she took a deep breath and the citizens all cheered. Sure, both knights still had more than two thousand damage points left, but it seemed like Taylor had gotten the advantage she needed.

As Derrick drew his next talisman, though, a smirk formed as he said, "Well, you've certainly put up a good fight. But unfortunately for you, I have the harbinger of your destruction in my hand right now!"

Taylor frowned as the man proceeded to place a talisman over Raging Flame Sprite's, shattering the elf's talisman underneath. Taylor's eyes widened as she had expected him to at least try his hand at another direct attack. But it made sense. It was not safe for him to keep that elf out right now.

And soon enough, that small elven girl was replaced by a light-brown lion with the tail of a scorpion and the wings of an eagle. The demon let out a loud roar before glaring at Albverdich with a look of hunger.

"This right here is Manticore of Darkness," Derrick said with a grin, "He's not the toughest my deck has to offer, but he still packs quite a punch."

"Not bad, but his attack power is equal to that of my fairy king," Taylor stated as Derrick nodded and replied, "So it is. Well, how are we going to get around that?"

It was then that Derrick revealed the trap he had set at the end of his first turn, Taylor's eyes and mouth wide open as two big fiery antlers appeared on the manticore's head. The demon let out a deafening roar as his muscles expanded, Derrick smirking and explaining, "This is Horn of the Phantom Beast. It can only be equipped to a beast-warrior and when done so, the owner's attack power is increased by eight hundred."

Taylor was now scared. It was very rare for her to fear her opponents, but what did she have that could possibly get around this?

Well, she would need something soon as the manticore charged at Albverdich. However, Taylor remembered that his effect could work during the opponent's turn as well, and since the fairy king was soon to be destroyed anyway, she may as well use his last overlay demon for something.

As such, she did just that as the manticore's attack dropped to twenty-six hundred. Even so, this power was still too high for the fairy king to bare as the antlers sent him flying high into the air, he and his fairy both turning into light and flying into Taylor's graveyard.

Taylor then received a hard strike to her armour as her damage points dropped to twenty-two hundred, the citizens once again scared. All the while, Derrick smirked and said, "That hero demon of yours isn't bad, I must say. I look forward to using him in future duels when he's mine."

To end the battle phase, though, Derrick drew another talisman and stated, "Oh, that's right, when anyone equipped with Horn of the Phantom Beast destroys his target, I can draw another talisman."

However, this was a rather weak demon that he could not make use of for the time being. As such, he simply held onto it and ended his turn.

Taylor stared in fear and alarm. Again, it was rare for her to ever be frightened during a duel, but this man was the strongest adversary she had ever face. Sure, he was annoying, but he was also strong, very strong. What could the woman do?

However, before giving up all hope, she gritted her teeth and thought, 'That's right. This man stole Neil's hero demon and injured him greatly. I can't allow him to get away with that!'

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and thought, 'Please, give me the strength I need,' the woman looking at what she had drawn as she saw something that could be of use. Sure, it was not a guarantee, but it could still work. And that talisman in question was Pot of Greed, the same spell Celeste had used to get the edge on Izy.

With that in mind, Taylor activated the spell as two talismans flew right into her hand. As such, she looked over them and thought, 'Yes, if all goes well, I can work with this.'

The first thing the woman did was activate another spell as she returned a talisman from her graveyard to her hand, Derrick rather confused as the woman explained, "The Warrior Returning Alive allows me to return a warrior from my graveyard to my hand."

Derrick simply smirked and shrugged his shoulders, asking, "Well, what good will that do? Your amazons are far too weak for my demon."

"True, but I have a way to get rid of him anyway," Taylor retorted as she summoned her Amazoness Swords Woman to the field.

No one could believe what they had just seen. She could have easily chosen her most powerful amazon but instead went with a weaker fighter.

"Oh, I get it," Derrick said with a smirk, "You want me to attack her so I'll take in the damage instead of you. That's pretty desperate considering how little damage it will deal, so I have no problem with this."

"That's what you think," Taylor retorted as she activated yet another spell talisman, a light flying into Sword Master's neck as a wooden pendant with a green gem in the middle appeared, a chain attaching it to that very spot.

Derrick blinked as the black-haired woman explained, "This is Amazoness Heirloom. As long as this is equipped, Swords Woman cannot be destroyed once per turn."

"I see," Derrick said with an impressed look, "So I'll have to risk taking in damage twice to remove her. That's fine by me."

"Actually, there's more to this strategy than you think," Taylor remarked with a smirk as she had the amazon charge at Manticore, striking him down the middle as he roared in pain. Everyone in the area was shocked when the demon was actually destroyed, Swords Woman ramming her sword into Derrick's armour and bringing his damage points down to thirteen hundred.

"How is that even possible!?" Derrick exclaimed as Taylor replied, "That's another power that Amazoness Heirloom contains. If a warrior equipped with it is the one launching the attack, the target is destroyed whether the attack power is higher or not."

Now Derrick was actually nervous. What could he possibly do about this? He only had one demon left in his hand, and as if the heirloom did not make things hard enough, the demon in question was too weak to stand up to Swords Woman anyway.

However, his job was to get Simon the Great Moral Leader for his king, and any other demon heroes would certainly suffice. As such, the white-haired knight could not allow himself to lose.

With that in mind, the man drew his next talisman and gasped. He then remembered a power that his manticore had, and with this new talisman he had drawn, there was no doubt that he could very well win this duel.

With that in mind, Derrick summoned the demon he had drawn earlier, a small cat with bird-like wings on her back. This demon's name was Little Chimera.

"What do you plan to do with that?" Taylor asked as Derrick remarked, "Well, she won't be the one fighting," as suddenly, the cat flew into Derrick's graveyard as another light came from it and headed toward the magical field.

Panic filled the citizens and Taylor when the light faded to reveal that the manticore had been revived. Sure, he no longer had the antlers to give him more power, but he was still back.

However, it did not end there as Derrick said, "By the way, I have more than one talisman with Mystical Space Typhoon," Taylor gasping as the white-haired man proceeded to activate that very spell. And naturally, his target was the heirloom as a gust of wind surrounded Amazoness Swords Woman, shattering the pendant.

"Now that that's out of the way," Derrick said with a smirk before pointing forward and adding, "I am now prepared to take in the last amount of damage that I will sustain for the rest of this duel!"

Taylor gritted her teeth as the manticore rushed toward Swords Woman and held her in place with his beefy arms. He then proceeded to raise his tail before sending it into her gut, the woman coughing up blood as she turned into light, flying into Taylor's graveyard.

However, Sword Woman's blade did fly out of her hand and strike Derrick's armour, though this only brought his damage points down to four hundred. Sure, he did not have much left, but it was just as he said. This could very well have been the last amount of damage he would take in for the rest of the duel, especially since Taylor did not seem to have anything left that could help her right now.

"You were a great adversary, but this duel is mine!" Derrick exclaimed with a smirk as Taylor was spellbound. No, it could not end like this. She had to have something left that could help her, but what?


	10. Chapter 10

It could not end like this. After Taylor had come so close, there was no way she could lose.

The woman closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, thinking, 'I'm sorry, Neil. I failed you. There's nothing left.'

But while she thought this, she noticed a familiar figure appear before her in her mind. This being was a snow-white wolf, the one who had raised her as a child.

"Taylor, there is still something you can use," the wolf said as her eyes widened, the woman asking, "But what, father? I want to help Neil get his demon hero back, but I don't have anything left!"

"Yes you do," the wolf replied, "Or have you forgotten about the one amazon stronger than your fairy prince?"

Taylor's eyes widened as she nodded and said, "That's right," the wolf smiling and saying, "Just believe and I am certain you will be able to win this duel."

"So, are you ready to surrender?" Derrick asked as Taylor frowned and retorted, "Not on your life!" before drawing a talisman.

It seemed that she had drawn the first talisman she needed, and it was a spell that Eric had. The spell in question was Graceful Charity and Taylor knew that there were two specific talismans that would help her, but she specifically needed to draw them both and discard one of them.

With that in mind, Taylor cast her spell as Derrick smirked and said, "Okay, so you're going to give yourself an extra talisman. That won't help you," Taylor frowning as she drew three talismans.

Her eyes widened when she noticed that she had drawn the exact talismans that she needed. A smile formed on her face as she let down a light tear and thought, 'Thank you, father. You gave me the confidence I needed.'

With that in mind, Taylor discarded two of her talismans, one being a demon flower named Amarylease. But what significance did this demon have and how was sending it to the graveyard useful?

This would be revealed soon as its talisman vanished from Taylor's graveyard, Derrick staring with confusion as the woman slapped the one talisman left in her hand onto the middle square. At that moment, a tall woman with long blue hair and an enormous blade appeared.

"What is that?" Derrick asked as Taylor smirked and replied, "This is my strongest warrior, Amazoness Queen! And while she is level six, I was able to summon her by banishing the demon, Amarylease. See, its power allows me to summon anyone from my hand with one less tribute when banished from my graveyard."

"Wait a minute!" Derrick retorted before pointing at her, "I don't remember ever sending that to your graveyard!" as Taylor nodded and replied, "That's right, because I was the one who sent him there."

"Oh no," Derrick uttered as his eyes widened and all became clear. Amarylease was one of the talismans Taylor discarded.

With all said and done, Amazoness Queen charged at the manticore and slashed him down the middle. The demon roared in pain and was sent back to Derrick's graveyard, the white-haired knight taking a strike to his armour as his damage points were reduced to three hundred.

'No, I have to win!' the man thought with fury in his expression as he drew his next talisman. Unfortunately, the demon he had drawn was too high in level to be summoned, and there were no special powers allowing for an exception to the tribute rule either.

With that in mind, Derrick ended his turn and sighed, "Go ahead and finish me off. I admit defeat," Taylor smirking and drawing her last talisman for the duel. She did not even bother to look at it as she knew she would not need it, the woman pointing forward and having her queen charge at the white-haired knight and strike him directly, bringing his damage points down to zero.

The citizens cheered wildly as Derrick's armour shattered, the man falling hard on his back. He then breathed heavily while staring at Taylor with fear in his eyes. Now that he was unprotected, she could easily have her Amazoness Queen pierce his chest and end his life for good.

A part of her certainly wanted to. This man had not only gotten on her nerves, but he had harmed her best friend and stolen his demon hero.

But even so, she never believed that killing was the answer as she took a deep breath signalled the end of the duel. Thus the magical field along with her queen vanished as she walked over to Derrick, punching him in the gut and leaving it at that.

The man coughed up a bit of blood before asking, "Why don't you just kill me instead!?"

Taylor simply shook her head and remarked, "My duty has already been fulfilled. Killing you won't make things better."

As such, she took back the demon heroes he had stolen and pulled out a set of handcuffs, locking his wrists in place while saying, "You're coming with me."

At this time, Neil had finally recovered when Leroy found him and asked, "Are you okay, lad?"

Neil took a deep breath as his eyes widened, the man bolting upright and shouting, "Oh my god, we should have been protecting you!" Leroy shaking his head and replying, "Don't worry about it. Let's face it, that talisman was the only thing any thieves would take interest in!"

The man then laughed as Neil sighed, "Well, at least you're safe," Leroy nodding and replying, "And I got all my other deliveries done."

The conversation was interrupted when Taylor arrived with a smile on her face. Her face had a few bruises on it, but nothing too serious as she held up the stolen talismans.

Neil blinked and said, "Thank god, I knew you could do it," Taylor nodding and saying, "It took longer than expected, though."

Leroy breathed a sigh of relief and beamed bright, saying, "I'm glad you're not too hurt," Taylor replying, "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm a knight. It's my job to fight for the kingdom."

"Hey, Taylor?" Neil asked as the woman turned to him, the man biting his lip as this was it. He was going to ask Taylor if he should quit.

But before he could let them out, Taylor started pinching his cheeks and exclaiming, "I'm so glad you're okay! I knew there was no way you could stay out for that long! You're stronger than Nelson for getting up after all of that!"

Neil blushed bright and uttered, "I wouldn't go that far," before thinking, 'What was I thinking? She would have bopped me over the head for asking such a thing, anyway.'

How, he was happy to have his Grenosaurus back. It was still a mystery to him why such a powerful demon would specifically choose a loser like him as its owner, but someday he would figure it out. He just knew it.

In fact, he now had a new question in mind as he asked, "Hey, Taylor, can you help me train later?"

The black-haired woman grinned and replied, "Of course, you big silly! I'd love to train with you!" as Neil laughed nervously and thought, 'If I'm going to be a credit to this army, I'm gonna figure this deck out. It pains me to admit it, but Derrick was right. I have no idea how to use these talismans effectively, but I will learn and I will succeed!'

Leroy, all the while, handed the talisman for Simon over to Neil as he said, "I think it might be better if you two hold onto this. I'll head on back to return the cart."

"You sure?" Neil asked as the old man nodded and replied, "Yes, and tell your commander that I'm more than pleased with your services today."

Taylor gave an army salute and exclaimed, "Yes, sir!" while Leroy headed back toward his cart, the man taking a deep breath and thinking, 'That was a close one. If those Rose Kingdom bastards got their hands on that talisman, there's no telling what could have happened. For most, it would be a difficult demon to summon, but I know King Richard could pull it off.'

He soon regained his usual calm and happy look when he noticed others in the area, Leroy waving to them. Was there something the old man was hiding? And furthermore, why was this Rose Kingdom at war with Duel Kingdom in the first place?

Whatever the reason was would have to wait as Izy and Eric were already back at the castle with Shelly and Grant handcuffed and led to Duel Kingdom's prison. Whether or not they would be released would be revealed soon, though Izy did hope they would not get a life sentence. After all, they did not kill anyone and were just doing their duty.

"Good job," Celeste replied with a smile, "I have to say, Eric, that's very impressive for your first mission. Taking down two knights at once must have been hard."

Izy blinked and thought, 'Did she forget I fought into that duel too?' as Eric stated, "With all due respect, Celeste, I can't take all the credit for this. In fact, Izy here dealt the finishing blow."

Celeste's eyes widened as she asked, "Really?" the prince nodding and adding, "As a matter of fact, I would have lost the duel if it hadn't been for her."

Izy blushed lightly. On one hand, a part of her was glad to hear that she did a good job, but on the other hand, she was unsure if she really deserved all this praise. Again, with the stakes set so high, she had been nervous throughout the majority of that duel.

Even so, Celeste simply nodded and uttered, "Well, good job, Izy," a part of her having trouble believing this. Was Eric just trying to give her a good rep? No, there was no way the prince would lie in an official report.

'Well, she was working with him,' Celeste thought, 'He probably helped out more than he's letting on. But still, the finishing blow. I never thought she'd pull that off, with or without help.'

And soon enough, Neil and Taylor returned as Derrick was being led to prison, Celeste saying, "You two took longer than usual."

"Yeah, we had a run-in with a thief, ma'am," Taylor replied with a grin, "But it was nothing I couldn't take care of."

"I can believe that," Celeste replied with a smile, "Good job."

Neil then pulled the talisman for Simon out of his pocket and said, "The thief was after this," before handing it to Celeste, the woman nodding and saying, "Right, I almost forgot a rare talisman was coming today. I'll give this to the king and queen as soon as possible."

She then gave an army salute and exclaimed, "Good job, you two! You may spend the rest of the day as you please!"

Taylor nodded and asked, "You ready?" Neil laughing and replying, "Well, I am fully recovered, so sure."

All the while, Eric and Izy decided to take a breather as Izy asked, "Hey, Eric, did you mean all the stuff you said?"

"What do you mean?" the prince asked as the woman replied, "Well, you said you couldn't have won without me. Is that true? I mean, you seemed to do most of the work."

"Believe me," Eric replied while shaking his head, "You helped me set those moves up. And don't forget, my demon was the one who got destroyed on the last turn. Yours was the one still standing."

Izy smiled and said, "Well, it's always been my dream to make people happy. That's why I became a performer."

Eric nodded as she added, "But in a way, I felt like that wasn't enough. Entertainment can help people take their minds off of bad things like war and death, but it doesn't really fix those problems. That's why I wanted to be a knight, to give people something more important to cheer about."

"Well, I think that's great," Eric replied as Izy sighed, "It's just, now that I am a knight, I'm not sure if I can really do it."

Eric's eyes widened as he retorted, "Don't say that!" the brunette turning to face him as he added, "Trust me, Izy, you definitely have what it takes, and I saw more than enough proof of that today! The other women may not see your full potential yet, but they will and today is the first step toward that!"

Izy gave the boy a light smile and said, "Thank you," fire burning in her eyes as she grinned and added, "I can do this! I can be a hero!"

Izy had so much confidence now that she had forgotten to bring up the fact that her final move barely counted as a finishing blow. After all, Shelly and Grant had surrendered. It was not as if their armour had been broken by that final strike.

Meanwhile, there was a town just miles away from Duel Kingdom known as the Rose Kingdom. For many years, they were Duel Kingdom's greatest trading partner, and the town itself was actually quite lovely. The citizens certainly seemed friendly and pleasant, so why would anyone want to go to war with these people?

This would have to wait as inside the castle, a middle-aged man by the name of Richard was walking the halls with his commander, a young man with short blue hair named Clement. Richard himself certainly looked powerful with a fine pointed beard, his firm nose and crimson hair beneath his brilliant, sparkling crown.

"So, Clement, any news from our soldiers?" Richard asked as Clement nodded and replied, "Only from the lower-ranking knights. Those I sent to Duel Kingdom haven't returned yet."

"Well, I have the utmost confidence in-" the man stated before being cut off when two young woman entered the area, twins to be exact. Each one had a face that made her look five years younger, only one sister had red hair while the other had blue.

"Oh, Tina and Stephanie, you're back," Richard said as Tina, the redhead, bit her lower lip nervously, rubbing her fingers together while Stephanie, the one with blue hair, gave an army salute and exclaimed, "We're here with a report on your soldiers, sire!"

"Very good," Richard replied with a bow of his head, "So, has that blabbermouth been executed?"

"Unfortunately, no," Stephanie replied as Tina whimpered, "Shelly and Grant have been imprisoned, sir."

Richard slapped his forehead and sighed, "Never mind, that was but a small trifle anyway. Did Derrick at least manage to get that demon hero that was being delivered to Duel Kingdom?"

Tina covered her face and trembled while Stephanie sighed, "Unfortunately, he failed too. He had to deal with two knights. He beat the first one but lost to the second."

However, while this excuse was valid, Richard still looked furious as he gritted his teeth. Clement gasped at the sight of this and immediately gave the man a shoulder rub, saying, "There, there, sire, calm down. You know what stress does to you."

"Right," Richard replied while taking many deep breaths and resting his hand against his forehead, "Don't tell the Missus I was hyperventilating. I don't want to deal with her scolding right now."

Clement stared at the king as Tina breathed a sigh of relief, Richard saying, "Thank you for the report. You may go do whatever you want now," the girls both bowing their heads before heading off.

Richard was still trying his best to keep calm when suddenly, another teenaged girl appeared behind him and asked, "Are you okay, Father?"

This girl had short pink hair and wore an elegant dress. Her eyes were a lovely shade of yellow and she had the nicest smile one could ever see.

"Oh, Victoria, I didn't see you there, sweetie," Richard said as he turned to face her, trying his best to look calm while clearing his throat. Clement simply gave her a bow as she was, after all, the princess.

"Father, I can tell when something is wrong," Victoria replied with a look of concern, "It's Duel Kingdom again, isn't it?"

"Nothing sneaks by you," Richard replied with a sigh, "But yes. They captured three of my knights today."

The princess bit her lower lip as the king said, "Look, this isn't something you should concern yourself with," only for Victoria to stamp her foot lightly against the floor and retort, "Yes it is!"

The king turned as she added, "This isn't just your kingdom! It's all of ours! I am sick and tired of standing on the sidelines while everyone else suffers!"

"Victoria, honey," the man pleaded only for the girl to state quite firmly, "I'm sorry, Father, but I've decided. I want to help this kingdom."

Clement rose an eyebrow at the sound of this as Richard snapped, "Absolutely not! If anything were to happen to you-"

"It would be my responsibility!" Victoria retorted as Richard gritted his teeth and barked, "Now, listen to me, young lady, you are being unreasonable! The life of a knight is cruel and fraught with danger! You could get killed, and in case you have forgotten this incredibly obvious fact that need not be explained, people die when they're killed!" *

All went silent, a cricket jumping through the area and chirping when Victoria took a deep breath and looked into her father's eyes with a serious look and stated, "Please, Father, I am tired of sitting back while the others are out risking their lives and getting hurt for it! Two days ago, Dame Cynthia returned covered in bruises because of a dangerous man in a cloak!"

Richard's eyes widened when he remembered a young woman with spiked red head returning with her armour shattered and her condition terrible. She had, indeed, been wounded by the same knight who had brought serious harm to Nelson.

"I know what I am asking for, Father, and I know it's dangerous," the princess stated, "And, yes, I know I will most likely die, but at least I'll be doing something."

Richard wanted to protest more but instead turned to Clement, sighing, "What do you think? Should I let her do it?" the commander gulping as Victoria looked at him with big puppy dog eyes, the man sighing, "Yes, you definitely should."

Richard nodded and put on a serious look, saying, "Alright, fine, if you insist on being a knight, I will allow it," Victoria wanting so much to squeal with excitement. However, she maintained a serious look and gave the man an army salute, exclaiming, "Thank you, Father!" before turning around and grinning like a child, skipping merrily down the hallway.

"What have I done?" Richard sighed as Clement replied, "Sorry, sire, I couldn't resist the look," the king shaking his head and saying, "It's fine. Honestly, I would have caved into that too."

He then stroked his beard and said, "Well, at the very least, I do have some powerful talismans lying around that she could use. Clement, I'm trusting you to teach her everything about how magic duels work. You had better make sure her arm doesn't explode. I wish I could do it myself, but I have to focus on various different issues at once."

"Understood, sir," Clement replied with an army salute as Richard nodded and walked down the hallway to tell Ruby, his wife, the news. Unlike him, she was not completely opposed to the idea. But would Victoria be more of a threat than she seemed? Only time would tell.

Note: In case any big anime fans are wondering, yes, this is a reference to Fate Stay Knight.


	11. Chapter 11

It was dinner time at Duel Kingdom as Eric, Izy, Neil and Taylor sat at a table and discussed their assignments while eating. Needless to say, Taylor was impressed by how well Eric and Izy had done on their first task.

"You guys beat two knights at once?" Neil asked with amazement, "Even the really good knights have trouble with that."

"Well, it was kinda difficult," Eric replied with a nervous laugh, "especially since neither of us knew the rules for team duels," Neil's eyes widening as he spat, "OH MY GOD, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"

Taylor pinched the blond's cheek and replied, "Don't get so worked up. As you can see, their arms are fine."

Neil chuckled nervously as Izy was surprised to see no knights staring at him for his outburst. Eric found this rather odd too as even he would have at least looked if someone yelled like that in an area he was present in.

Neil could tell what they were thinking as he explained, "Just so you know, me freaking out is considered normal here."

Now Eric was concerned as he shrugged and replied, "Well, if you try hard enough, that won't have to be the case," Taylor patting Neil on the head and saying, "I've been telling him that for a long time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Neil sighed as all the while, some of the other women in the area were whispering about lucky Izy was to go on a mission with the prince.

They had heard about how he actually volunteered to take her with him, though they figured it was just so he could show a newbie the ropes and nothing else. After all, they were still not the slightest bit convinced that Eric had any genuine interest in being friends with a group of outcasts.

"Anyway, I wonder what's in store for us tomorrow," Eric said with a grin, "Maybe we'll have more intruders to take down," Izy nodding with a big grin on her face.

"Look at that," one of the women whispered, "That Izy girl acts like she's so special just because Eric's talking to her."

"Yeah, I don't hate Izy, but let's face it, she's way in over her head," another woman replied, "I heard she won a duel yesterday, but only because Eric was fighting alongside her."

"Yeah, she totally would have lost," the first woman said with a sigh, "I'm just hoping she never has to fight by herself otherwise she'll likely die."

All the while, it seemed some of the men were more impressed. Will, especially, was looking at Izy with much interest as he grinned and said, "You know, I heard Izy actually stopped a couple of knights from Rose Kingdom today."

"Yeah, and apparently, she dealt the final blow," one of the other men at the table replied, "Maybe she does have what it takes to be a knight."

"Yeah, maybe," Will replied as he got up and strutted over to the table, Izy noticing him standing there as he grinned at her and said, "Hey, heard you succeeded in your first assignment."

"Oh no, there he goes," a nearby woman sighed, "Now him wanting to get with her I can believe."

Taylor's usual happy face turned to a scowl as Will laughed nervously and uttered, "Whoa, calm down. I just wanted to congratulate her, okay?" Taylor holding her fingers up to her eyes and pointing them at him to show that she was watching him.

Izy chuckled and said, "Well, that's sweet, but Eric was my partner. He keeps telling me otherwise, but I don't think it would have turned out quite as well if he hadn't helped me out."

"Oh, well, naturally," Will replied with a shrug, "I mean, he is the prince," Eric chuckling and replying, "Honestly, you're giving me way too much credit. I feel lucky to have my arm after getting myself into a team duel without any knowledge of how it works."

Now the others in the area understood why Neil had freaked out earlier. However, this just made them feel more impressed by how Eric managed to figure out a concept that was foreign to him. They did not even bother to question why neither his mother nor father would have taught him about it as they were unaware of Henry's unwillingness to let him join the army.

"Anyway, I heard Izy finished the job," Will said with a grin, "That's pretty cool, actually. Maybe you could teach me a thing or two."

Izy snickered and replied, "I'm not sure if you really want to take lessons from me," as one woman whispered, "Well, at least she has the common sense to know what he's really trying to do."

Will tried not to show his disappointment, but figured it hardly mattered as he shrugged and replied, "Well, if you say so," the man then heading back to his seat.

"You just got rejected," one of the men at the table said while trying his hardest not to laugh, Will narrowing his eyelids.

Soon enough, dinner was over as Taylor and Neil were about to head off to the training area to improve Neil's skills. Izy and Eric simply gave the two a wave before heading off to do their own thing. But while Izy was just happy to have someone to show her around the castle, Eric had felt something different ever since he saw her duel with Celeste.

A part of him wanted to reach out and take hold of Izy's hand. At the very least, that would be innocent enough, right? However, he was beyond nervous about this as Izy turned to him and saw him biting his lower lip.

"Something wrong?" Izy asked as Eric shook his head and replied, "Nope, nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong? Today's been great!"

He then cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, I need to speak to my father about something. I'd forgotten about it until now," Izy nodding with a light smile and replying, "Okay. See you tomorrow."

Eric nodded with a grin and raced off, Izy giving him a light wave before turning back to where she was headed. However, after taking a few steps, she stopped when she noticed a woman standing right in front of her. This woman had braided blond hair that went down to her knees and right now, she had a smirk on her face.

"Oh, hello," Izy said with a smile, "Catherine, right?"

The woman ignored her question and said, "You know he doesn't really see you as a friend, right?"

The brunette blinked and asked, "You mean Will? Yeah, I've heard he's a serious flirt-" only for Catherine to cut in and retort, "No, I mean the prince."

She then rested her hands on Izy's shoulders and added, "He doesn't see you or any of your new friends as equals. He just simply picked up on the fact that you three didn't have any friends and decided to give you some attention so you wouldn't feel left out."

Izy tilted her head to the side and asked, "How do you know that?" as Catherine sighed, "Eric is royalty. Why would someone of royal descent want to be friends with a circus performer and a loser? Taylor I can make some sense out of as she actually does have talent, but you and Neil are lost causes. He just didn't want you to feel left out, that's it!"

Izy simply stared for a few seconds as her expression refused to change, Catherine asking, "Are you really that shocked?" the brunette shaking her head and remarking, "Not really. Look, I'll have you know I don't see him in that way. If you have the hots for him, just tell him. I won't mind."

Catherine's face turned beet red as she spat, "WHAT!?" before thinking, 'Well, okay, she's not wrong about that,' while Izy added, "You don't have to be jealous of us. We're just good friends, that's all."

With that, Izy stepped to the side and walked passed a spellbound Catherine, the blond gritting her teeth and thinking, 'Fine, don't come crying to me when he gets tired of you and decides to spend time with those who are worthy of his friendship!'

During this time, Eric stood before the entrance to the throne room and took a deep breath, thinking, 'Get it together. You just need some advice,' the boy opening the door and seeing his mother there.

"Where's Dad?" the prince asked as Esmeralda blinked and replied, "He's in the restroom. What is it? Are the barracks proving too much for you?"

"No," Eric replied while shaking his head, "I have a problem that you might actually be able to help me with more."

"Absolutely," the queen replied with a bright smile, Eric sighing, "See, it's girl troubles."

Esmeralda gasped as Eric groaned, "I'm sorry! I know this woman isn't a princess, but I just feel like she's right for me!" as the queen chuckled and replied, "You don't have to explain yourself to me. You probably wouldn't believe it, but your father used to be a peasant before we were married."

"Really?" Eric asked, his eyes widening as Esmeralda nodded and said, "Believe me, your grandparents wanted nothing to do with it, but we both convinced them that it was true love. And, well, your father definitely proved himself a better ruler than they ever believed he would be, so they blessed our marriage."

"So my wife doesn't have to be of royalty?" Eric asked as Esmeralda remarked, "Oh, heavens no," before winking at him and adding, "And you don't need to tell me any names just yet. If it's true love, I will definitely help you."

"Thank you so much!" Eric exclaimed with a big grin as he asked, "So, got any advice?"

"I only have one simple tip," Esmeralda replied as Eric nodded and listened intently, the woman adding, "Don't confess any time soon."

Eric's jaw dropped as the queen stated, "Allow me to explain. See, I'm going out on a limb and guessing this special someone is one of the knights you are working with, correct?"

"Wow, you're good," Eric replied as the queen giggled and added, "In other words, you have probably only been able to spend time with this woman for a couple of days. I'm afraid it is far too early to just come out and say 'I love you', especially since she probably doesn't share your feelings just yet."

Eric nodded before lowering his head and groaning, "Man, there's a lot I don't know, isn't there?"

Esmeralda chuckled and replied, "Worry not, my son. You are still growing," before putting on a more serious look and adding, "The first thing you should do is perhaps go on a few dates with her. That way, you can both get to know each-other even more. Then when you can see that she is, indeed, more than comfortable around you, tell her how you feel."

Eric had a big open-mouth smile on his face as he grinned and exclaimed, "Thank you, Mom! You're the best!" the boy then giving her a hug as she rubbed his back and said, "By the way, congratulations on your first victory today. Celeste told me all about your report."

Eric blinked and asked, "Has Dad heard yet?" Esmeralda nodding and replying, "When he found out that you won a team duel without any knowledge, he told me that he regretted keeping you out of the army for as long as he did."

Later that night, all of the women were undressed and ready for bed as Celeste took a deep breath and crawled under her covers next to Izy. The commander then turned to her and said, "Hey, Izy, good job today."

The brunette turned to her as she added, "I'll be truly impressed when you defeat a knight by yourself, but you still dealt the finishing blow and Eric says he would have lost without you, so good job. Just don't get a swell head about this, okay?"

Izy nodded with a big smile and replied, "Of course. Thank you so much," the commander thinking, 'Well, at least she's getting better.'

All the while, the other women were fast asleep save for Taylor who had not yet arrived at the barrack. Instead, she and Neil had been training the whole time as both were headed toward their barracks.

"I don't think I'm ever gonna figure this out," Neil groaned as Taylor patted him on the shoulder and replied, "Nonsense. You got better with each duel. I just know you'll be an expert in no time."

Neil blushed lightly and sighed, "Wouldn't that be the day?" before noticing the moon and groaning, "Oh no, is it already that late? We've lost two minutes of sleep already."

Taylor laughed and replied, "It was for a good reason, so don't beat yourself up," before pinching the blond's cheek and adding, "You're not beating yourself up, right?"

Neil nodded and sighed, "No, of course not," as Taylor released her hold on him and said, "In that case, have a good night."

"You two," Neil replied with a nervous chuckle as Taylor headed toward her own barrack, the man watching her for a few seconds. Up until now, he had not realized just how beautiful his black-haired friend was.

He then shook his head and thought, 'No, that's silly,' before heading toward the men's barrack while his mind added, 'Would she even be interested in a guy like me?'

During this time, Victoria was headed toward the barrack in the Rose Kingdom. Much like Eric, she did not wish to have special treatment and as such would accept any kind of living accommodations just as long as she was treated like every other knight. However, the Rose Kingdom was not quite as wealthy as Duel Kingdom seeing as Richard had spent a lot of his budget on the special attachment for the gauntlets and as such, men and women had to share the same barrack.

When Victoria entered and noticed everyone getting undressed, her cheeks turned bright red at the sight of all the men. Clement simply laughed nervously and said, "Oh, sorry, guys. I forgot to mention, the princess is now a soldier."

The knights all nodded their heads and greeted her with open arms while she face-palmed and just wished they would put on pyjamas already. Little did she know that just like Duel Kingdom, there were no pyjamas for knights and thus they all had to sleep in the nude.

The following morning in Duel Kingdom was not a particularly nice one as it was raining today. But even so, a knight's duty still had to be done. And thus after breakfast, everyone was assembled for assignments.

"Since it's raining today, not a lot of citizens will be out and about," Celeste explained, "meaning most of you won't be needed, but we still have a few assignments. As you know, my high-ranking knights take care of those outside of the kingdom, so none of you have to worry about those, though that might change within a month's time."

Everyone looked confused by that statement as the commander added, "As much as it pains me to admit it, Izy mentioned something in her report yesterday that I have to admit sounded very intriguing. I discussed it with the the king over dinner, and he likes the idea."

Some of the other knights stared at Izy with shock as the brunette blinked and asked, "What idea? I don't remember suggesting anything," Celeste replying, "Well, you didn't really suggest it, but even so, if you hadn't told me about this, I never would have thought of it."

Now even Eric was curious. He had been there to help Izy give the report and yet even he was unsure of where the commander was going with this.

"You mentioned the Rose Kingdom soldiers had somehow altered their gauntlets so they could magically hide their armour inside of them and only bring it out when they were in battle, right?" Celeste asked as Izy and Eric blinked and nodded.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Neil uttered as Taylor shrugged and replied, "Honestly, I kind of passed it off as nothing important somewhere in the middle of the duel."

"As such, it's easy to see how they've been able to sneak into our kingdom," Celeste added, "I figure if we could do the same thing, we can go to their country and start attacking them from within, only we won't get ourselves captured."

"Yes, ma'am!" most of the knight replied with an army salute, the commander adding, "The only downside is it will take us some time to get it done. As I said, it won't be finished until the end of the month, and it will cost the king and queen quite a handsome sum. Even so, we'll still have enough left over to afford regular, everyday clothes that you can wear outside of a duel so the Rose Kingdom soldiers won't recognize you."

Neil's eyes widened as he turned to Taylor and thought, 'I've never actually seen her without her armour on before. I wonder what that would be like,' the black-haired woman loving this idea as she said, "Just think, in a month, we won't have to wear heavy armour all the time."

Izy was more concerned about something else as she rose her hand and asked, "So does that mean we don't have to sleep in the nude anymore?" Celeste sighing, "Unfortunately, we can only afford one set of clothing for each of you, so we still won't have pyjamas to sleep in."

The brunette still did not completely like the idea of sleeping naked, but even so, it seemed there was little choice in the matter so she would just have to accept it. After all, it hardly bothered her openly, so it was not the biggest deal in the world.

"I'll remind you all of this when the clothes come and we have to make the change," Celeste explained, "but each of you will be in charge of doing your own laundry before bed. After all, you will each only get one set of clothes, so it would be disgusting not to clean them daily. I'll show you all a watering hole you can use for it. If you're uncomfortable being naked while washing your clothes, don't forget, you can always put on your gauntlets and form your armour around yourself."

Will had a big grin on his face as he turned to Izy and thought, 'Oh, sweet salvation. This invention can't come soon enough.'

With all said and done, Celeste gave out a few assignments. Only a small percentage of the knights were given tasks today.

However, neither Izy nor her friends had been given a task as Eric asked, "Excuse me, ma'am, is there anything I can do?"

'So brave,' most of the women thought as Celeste looked over the list and said, "Well, you can join Zack," a tough red-haired man grinning and saying, "Hey, protecting little old ladies with the prince. Sounds like my kind of quest."

"What about me?" Izy asked with a grin as Celeste let out a sigh and said, "Unfortunately, I can't-"

However, she was cut off when Will rose his hand and asked, "Can she come with me?" the other women giving him an awkward stare, Catherine thinking, 'I may find Izy annoying, but even I wouldn't wish that on her.'

Celeste blinked and thought about this. She had given Will the task of protecting the local preschool from possible invaders. As that place was rarely ever attack, the commander figured there was no way the ex-performer could mess this up.

As such, she nodded and said, "Very well. As long as Izy agrees to this, she will go with you," Will cupping his hands together and thinking, 'Please! I haven't been partnered up with a woman in ages!'

It seemed his prayers had been answered as Izy gave him a sweet smile and said, "I'm more than up to this," Celeste nodding and saying, "Well, best of luck to you both," as Will tried to hide his excitement. Though of course, Izy would have accepted this task no matter who had asked her, but Will was still happy beyond words.

But would this task really be as easy as Celeste figured it would be? After all, Leroy had never been attacked before and yet the previous day, he had just about been robbed by a very powerful adversary. Hopefully nothing would go wrong, especially on a rainy day like this.


	12. Chapter 12

While the knights were off on their assignments, Celeste decided she may as well have the others do something as she turned to them and said, "For the next few hours, I think it's only necessary that we all train. Any objections?"

"No, ma'am!" the soldier exclaimed, Neil and Taylor actually excited. After all, this only gave Neil more time to practice.

While Celeste walked down the hall to the training facility, she noticed the king and queen walking in the opposite direction. She quickly bowed her head along with the other soldiers as both bowed back.

"Training?" Henry asked as Celeste replied, "Of course," before turning to the other knights and adding, "You can all head to the training facility and start without me. I need to discuss something with the king."

The knights nodded before heading off, Henry tilting his head to the side and asking, "What do you wish to talk about? Is it about putting the armour into the gauntlets?"

"No, not that," Celeste replied, "Actually, I noticed that on the list of assignments, you marked off protecting the school as a priority quest. With all due respect, sir, that is a mistake, right?"

Esmeralda blinked as she asked, "Is it?" Henry shaking his head with a light chuckle and replying, "I can see where the confusion comes from. Yes, normally protecting the school isn't a big deal as invaders almost never have a reason to attack it, but today is a rather big one."

"I don't follow," the commander replied as the king added, "Well, you see, the grade five teacher, Mrs. Hart, is giving a lecture on talismans today and how they work, so she has asked to borrow an entire deck full of them to show around to the students. While there are no demon heroes in the deck we lent her, I do fear that someone from the Rose Kingdom might try to take them for Richard."

"What!?" Celeste remarked, her eyes and mouth wide open before she thought, 'Oh no, and I just sent Izy to guard that spot! And Will's only slightly more helpful!'

"Esmeralda chuckled at the commander's reaction and said, "Don't worry too much about it. We were very secretive about it," Henry nodding and replying, "The only reason I labelled it as a priority assignment was because of the off-chance that one of Rose Kingdom's spies might have seen one of our representatives handing it over, but the odds of that are still up for debate."

"Oh, thank god," Celeste replied with a deep breath, "You terrified me."

Henry then took a deep breath and replied, "I'm sure whoever you sent out can handle an attack anyway, right?" Celeste thinking, 'Please, fate, don't let me down.'

All the while, Izy and Will were right outside of the school in the pouring rain while their heads were soaked. However, while Will was having trouble dealing with it, Izy had a big, cute smile on her face as she tilted her chin upward and opened her mouth, catching drops of rain with her tongue.

Will stared at her for a few seconds before snickering, Izy turning to him and asking, "What?"

"Nothing," the man replied while trying his hardest not to look more professional, "It's just that I used to love drinking the rain when I was a kid. I don't know why I stopped. Guess I just figured I was too old for it."

"There's no such thing as being too old for fun," Izy remarked with a pout, holding her hands against her hips, "Go on, try it."

Will gulped and looked around to see if anyone was watching. He took a deep breath when he noticed only he and Izy were in the area, and thus the man faced upward and did as Izy did, catching a few drops on his tongue.

As he gulped it down, he smacked his lips and said, "You know, that's actually quite refreshing," a big grin forming on his face as Izy nodded and sighed, "I love rain. Every time it rains, I just have to run out and enjoy it, you know."

Will stared silently while thinking, 'I have to admit, Izy's actually pretty cute. I mean, I thought she was cute before, but damn.'

However, while this went on, a woman with black hair in a thick ponytail was sneaking about. All the while, she took a deep breath and thought, 'Why did it have to rain today? This is awful.'

But who was this woman and what did she want? That would have to wait as back at the castle, Henry walked in on a group of people in charge of crafting armour. Of course, one of these people was a wizard who would cast an enchantment on each suit of armour that bound it to the magic of the gauntlets.

"Hello, your majesty," the wizard in question said with a bow of his head, "What brings you here?"

"Just wanted to know if you can pull this off," Henry replied, "We're not exactly sure what Rose Kingdom did to make it work, but I trust you."

"It might take some time," the wizard replied with a sigh, "but I think I might be able to crack this. After all, if we can bind armour to gauntlets, then we can merge armour with gauntlets. Mark my words, this task will be achieved by the end of the month."

Meanwhile, Izy and Will continued to stand around as Will sighed, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. This is a pretty boring job, isn't it?"

Izy shook her head and replied, "Hey, as long as I'm helping out, it's all good in the end. Besides, you don't even know me and you still wanted my help. That actually means quite a bit to me."

Will blinked as the brunette added, "While I enjoyed working in the circus, my heroes growing up were the famous knights of old. Prince Alexander and the mighty Ben were just small samples, but to think there were even women like Emma, Malinda and Cora just made me want this sort of thing more."

Will nodded and replied, "Well, that's part of why I applied for the army. That and my father gave me talismans so I could pursue this path," before adding, "You know, some of the women don't believe that your speech you told Celeste during your initiation was true, but I fully believed it. Glad to see I wasn't wrong."

Izy grinned and replied, "Yeah, the others can think what they want. Words are just words, anyway. I wanna prove how dedicated I am to protecting the lives of people so they can cheer for a better reason. As much as I love the applause of the crowd, a part of me always thought I could do more than just entertain people, that I could save lives and give them something to really look forward to."

Will could not believe it. At first, he just saw Izy as the newcomer to take advantage of, but he was genuinely touched by her words. Was he feeling actual love toward the brunette?

"By the way, where did your dad get his talismans?" Izy asked, "My dad found his in a nearby cave while mining while Mom had a few passed down from my grandma. I think I already told you that Edward got some for me from a bet."

"I remember that detail," Will replied with a grin, "Well, it's a funny story. See, my dad used to be a famous knight. They used to call him the Mighty Ben."

Izy's eyes and mouth were wide open as she grinned and squealed, "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE BEN'S SON!? THAT IS SO COOL!" Will's cheeks flushed pink as the brunette took hold of his hands and exclaimed, "I don't care if you're a raging flirt! You're practically a celebrity!"

However, the moment was interrupted when Will noticed the woman from earlier trying to sneak into the school through a window and spat, "HALT IN THE NAME OF KING HENRY!"

Izy noticed this and gasped, "What he said!" the black-haired woman narrowing her eyelids and sighing, "I guess I have no choice but to fight you."

Will gulped and said, "Hey, I could easily win this alone, but what say we take her down together?" Izy asking, "Can we do that?"

Will nodded and replied, "Yeah, there's actually no limit to how many knights there are in a magical duel?" Izy saying, "Well, it will make things easier."

With that in mind, the brunette and the man both activated their gauntlets at once while the black-haired woman strapped on her own gauntlet as her armour came out of it and covered her up. Will blinked and said, "Wow, Celeste wasn't kidding. How did you guys pull that off?"

"If you must know, it required a great deal of magic to pull off," the woman remarked, "Not that you're going to live to tell anyone about this."

But before they could begin, Izy put on a polite smile and said, "By the way, I'm Dame Izy," Will and the enemy both staring at her as she shrugged and added, "I figured we should at least introduce ourselves before a duel."

Will nodded and replied, "Well, that's not a bad idea," before adding, "I am Sir William, but everyone calls me Will."

The woman let out a sigh and said, "This seems unnecessary, but if it gets things started quicker, my name is Dame Rachel of the Rose Kingdom."

Izy smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, even if it's not under good circumstances," Rachel giving her an odd look before shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Since you issued the challenge, you will decide who goes first."

Izy turned to Will who nodded and said, "Luckily for you, this isn't my first time partaking in a two-on-one duel. I'll help you out," Izy beaming and replying, "Thanks."

With all said and done, Will agreed to go first as he took a deep breath, all five knights drawing five talismans. With that, he whispered to Izy, "Alright, here's how this works. After I have my move, Rachel will go next. Then you go and Rachel goes again and that's how the order works, got it?"

"Oh, okay," Izy replied with a nod, "Wouldn't want to mess this up, that's for sure."

With this in mind, Will looked at his hand and grinned, saying, "I'll start with an incredible spell known as Burden of the Mighty," the man inserting a talisman into a slot as a strange dark magic formed on Rachel's side.

"What did you do?" the black-haired woman asked as Will explained, "As long as this spell remains in play, every one of your demons loses one hundred attack points multiplied by its level."

"Not bad," Izy said with an impressed look, Will then slapped a talisman onto his middle square as a knight of his own with short blond hair and light-blue armour appeared, the man explaining, "This here is my Marauding Captain. He may not look tough, but he comes with a very useful power, and that's the ability to let me special summon a level four or lower demon from my hand, and I choose Spell Striker."

With that, the man proceeded to summon a tiny demon with a perfectly round head and torso, a blue viking helmet and matching suit of armour along with a spear with a lightning bolt-shaped head. However, Rachel was rather unimpressed as her had weak attack power, even when put together.

"Let me guess, there's a reason you summoned these weakling, isn't there?" she asked as Will smirked and replied, "You catch on fast. But yes, you're right, for I choose to overlay both these warriors in order to summon Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights!"

Izy's eyes sparkled with admiration as all of Will's warriors formed into balls of light, fusing together. And once the light faded, another warrior stood in their place, a knight with brown hair, a rugger face and white and blue armour. With a sword that resembled his armour in hand, this man certainly had a threatening presence.

"Wow, that is so cool," Izy uttered, thinking, 'His father must be really proud of him.'

Will, all the while, smirked while thinking, 'Well, she's impressed. But what's important is ending this as soon as possible,' and with that, the man set one last talisman into a slot and ended his turn, saying, "And that should give you a good sample of what's to come."

"I'll admit, that's actually a little intimidating," Rachel replied with a shrug before drawing a sixth talisman for her hand, "Unfortunately for you, I already have a way to counter this."

"You serious?" Will uttered as the black-haired woman nodded and placed a talisman into a slot and tapped on it.

At that moment, a big twister formed and swept up Burden of the Mighty along with the spell Will had set. With that, both returned to his hand as he blinked, Rachel explaining, "The spell I just used was Giant Trunade. It sends all of your spells and traps back into your hand."

'That's not good,' the man thought as the woman proceeded to summon a demon in defence position, setting another talisman into a slot and ending her turn.

Will took a deep breath and said, "This isn't too bad, Izy. My knight is still out. You can use Artorigus to destroy the defending demon."

"Don't worry, I have every intention of doing that and then some," Izy replied with a big grin as she drew her next talisman.

As a matter of fact, Izy could not have asked for a better starting hand. She had the perfect set-up to defeat Rachel in one move as not only did she have both of her pendulum mages, but she also had three demons that met the right criteria to be summoned.

With that in mind, the brunette proceeded to set Stargazer and Timegazer on the sides next to her gauntlet's squares. Will's eyes sparkled as both mages appeared, Rachel asking, "How did you summon them both at once without breaking the rules? Is it their power?"

"Actually, I set them," Izy replied with a grin, "See, these are called pendulums and they double as spells. As for what they allow me to do, well, allow me to demonstrate."

A big pendulum appeared behind the two mages and rocked back and forth as Izy exclaimed, "With the power of Stargazer and Timegazer Magician, I pendulum summon all three demons from my hand! Introducing Blue Dragon Summoner, Red Sparrow Summoner and my favourite, Performapal Whip Snake!"

Blue Dragon Summoner was an intimidating young man with a wavy blue haircut and a dark-blue cloak. Red Sparrow Summoner was a beautiful young woman with scarlet hair in a ponytail and a dark-red sleeveless battle dress. Both combined were strong enough to deal three thousand damage, and combined with Whip Snake's power, there was no doubt that she was set to end this duel quickly.

'I can't believe it,' the brunette thought, 'I never thought victory could be so easy to obtain. Again, thank you, Dad. If you hadn't given me the pendulums, I never could have pulled this off.'

However, it seemed something was wrong as Rachel said, "I have to say, I'm actually impressed. It's just a shame I happen to have the perfect trap for this."

The woman then proceeded to activate the talisman she had set at the end of her turn as a big burst of water came up from the ground on Izy and Will's side. Five streams shot up, each one covering a different square as all four demons were pierced. However, this also effected Rachel's side as her defending demon was destroyed, but she did not seem the least bit upset about this.

"No," Izy uttered as Will laughed nervously, saying, "It's okay. I'll make up for this next turn."

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," Rachel replied, "Anyway, the spell I just used was Torrential Tribute. When my opponent summons at least one demon, I can activate this trap to destroy every demon on the field. Sure, that includes my own, but one is a small price for four."

"Why even summon that demon in the first place if you were just going to destroy it, though?" Will asked as Rachel remarked, "I wanted you to have a reason to summon another demon. If you couldn't attack me directly this turn, it would be pointless for you to do so."

Izy bit her lip and said, "Wait, my Blue Dragon Summoner has a special power. If he's sent to the graveyard, I can add a dragon, spellcaster or warrior to my hand."

Even so, this was all she could do as Rachel rose an eyebrow and asked, "Hey, why haven't those mages of yours been destroyed?"

Izy nodded and replied, "I told you, pendulums double as spells. Unless I summon them normally, they're not considered demons."

"So that means you can't attack with them," Rachel replied with a shrug, "That's fine."

"Why are you so calm!?" Will retorted with a grin, "After all, with both pendulums out, Izy can just summon the demon she drew from her deck!"

Izy then shook her head and laughed nervously, replying, "Sorry, but I can only pendulum summon once per turn," as Will sighed, "Oh well, it's still cool."

However, Izy could not help but feel like she was forgetting something about the pendulums that her father had told her. But she could not put her finger on it.

Whatever it was, she would have to figure it out soon as Will asked, "Are you sure there's nothing else you can do? I mean, you didn't use every talisman in your hand, right?"

Izy gasped as she nodded and said, "That's right," before activating the one talisman she had not used and thinking, 'Thanks, Will. I almost forgot I had this.'

At that moment, a tablet appeared as two vials came out of it. One had a green liquid in it while the other had a purple liquid.

"Oh, I've heard of this spell," Rachel said with a smile, "I'm impressed you even have Poison of the Old Man."

"Yeah, I do," Izy replied with a serious look, "And I choose his second power, which is to inflict eight hundred damage to your armour!"

With that, the purple vial disappeared back into the tablet as the green one opened up, the poison flying out of it and soaking Rachel's armour. The black-haired woman winced as her damage points dropped to thirty-two hundred. At the very least, Izy had done some damage.

However, Rachel did not look the least bit intimidated as her turn started up, the woman saying, "I'll admit, that pendulum summoning of yours is intimidating, but you only have one talisman in your hand, and it's likely a weak demon that you can summon easily. Your ally, however, still has those two spells I sent back to him, and I already know one of those will be a royal pain. As such, I think I will take care of him first."

Izy was confused now as she asked, "What does she mean by that? I thought we were both sharing the same damage points."

"Yes, but two-on-one duels are different from two-on-two duels," Will replied, "No one knows exactly why this is the case, but during a two-on-one duel, I guess the magic of the gems makes it its duty to make things more fair for the single opponent, so if one of us is attacked for a total of two thousand damage or more, that knight is removed from the duel, leaving his partner to take over and turning it into a one-on-one duel."

Izy scratched the side of her head and said, "That's weird," Will shrugging and replying, "Well, it's magic."

Rachel proceeded to activate a spell, saying, "I now use Double Summon. As the name implies, it allows me to summon two demons normally this turn."

"Oh no, I have that spell too," Will groaned as Izy said, "Sometimes I forget there's more than one of most talismans in the world."

And with that, Rachel proceeded to place two talismans next to each other on the squares of her gauntlet. This allowed her to summon two demons.

One had human-like features but a mostly fish-like body and held a trident. This was Spined Gillman. The other was a blue two-headed serpent with cat-fish like whiskers on its snouts and fins covering the sides of its torso. Its name was Lost Blue Breaker.

Both demons were pretty weak, but their combined powers combined gave them a total of twenty-eight hundred power, meaning Will was doomed. However, Izy seemed to have something to counter all of this with in her hand as she thought, 'Hopefully, she doesn't have anything else planned. I need to at least survive her turn.'

Will gulped as Gillman rammed his trident into the man's armour, bringing both his and Izy's damage points down to twenty-seven hundred. However, it only got worse when Breaker formed a stream of water with the rain before swimming toward Will, both of its heads biting into his shoulders.

The man cried out in pain as the damage points were reduced to thirteen hundred. With that, his armour started to crack as he uttered, "Finish her off, Izy," before his armour came clean off, the man falling hard on his back and coughing up blood.

Izy stood there, frozen in fear. She had never won a duel by herself, and if she lost, not only would the school likely get ransacked by Rachel, but both she and Will would likely die. Hopefully the demon in her hand would be enough as she did not have enough damage points to survive another attack from either one of Rachel's demons.


	13. Chapter 13

This was really bad. Will was down for the count as it was all up to Izy to finish what the two had started. As if that was not enough, Izy's damage points were down to thirteen hundred while Rachel still had thirty-two hundred and two demons on her side.

"There's something you should know," the black-haired woman said as Izy gulped, Rachel continuing, "I'm not done with my turn yet."

Izy's eyes widened as she trembled with fear. She could not believe how scared she was right now, and it was for the exact same reason she freaked out after taking in damage during her duel with Shelly and Grant. This was not the initiation test to be accepted into the army. If she lost, she could not just shrug it off and try again later. No, failure could easily result in death, and she was very close to failure now.

And her fears would soon heighten as Rachel exclaimed, "I now overlay my two demons to summon Leviathan Dragon!" both fish demons becoming balls of light and coming together.

When the light faded, a blue serpent dragon with six wings took their place, letting out a deafening roar. This was surprisingly the first thing that caught the attention of the students next to the window where the duel was taking place.

Izy noticed everyone in the class lining up to see the duel, some kids pointing while the brunette laughed nervously and said, "Nothing to see here, kids. Just go back to your studies. I can handle this."

"The window's closed," Rachel remarked with a sigh, "I don't think they can actually hear you."

However, one thing Izy noticed was that Leviathan Dragon only had two thousand attack power. Sure, that was high, but as luck would have it, the demon in her hand was stronger. This meant she might very well be able to turn things around after all.

Rachel ended her turn by setting her last talisman in a slot on her gauntlet. Hopefully, this would not be another trap like Torrential Tribute. The last thing Izy needed was to lose all of her demons again.

With her turn finally here, Izy drew a talisman and took a deep breath, saying, "I'll admit, you've been really tough so far, but no more! I'm going to make sure Will's sacrifice isn't in vein and that he lives to fight another day!"

Rachel blinked as she thought, 'I also need to protect those students. This isn't just for me or my reputation. I became a knight to protect people, and it's high time I do that without someone else's help! If I can't win a duel on my own, I'm not fit to be a knight!'

With that, Izy exclaimed, "Now, with the power of Stargazer and Timegazer, I pendulum summon Wattaildragon!" Rachel genuinely shocked when a blue dragon with a tail made of white lightning appeared.

"I do have stronger demons in my deck," Izy explained, "but Blue Dragon Summoner's power only works on normal demons, meaning I couldn't add anyone with a special power to my hand."

"I don't care about that!" Rachel retorted, "How on Earth did you summon a level six demon?"

"Well, pendulum summoning isn't just the ability to summon multiple demons at once," Izy explained, "See, if you look on the middle sides of each pendulum talisman, you'll see a number written there. As you can see, the number of Stargazer is one while the number on Timegazer is eight."

"What does that mean?" Rachel asked as the brunette replied, "See, I can summon as many demons as I want as long as their levels are between those numbers, meaning as long as a demon is level two to seven, I can summon it, even without a tribute."

'Why have I never heard of this?' Rachel thought with her teeth gritted, 'At first, this pendulum summoning concept seemed like an inconvenience that I could work around with the right traps. Now it's proven to be a real problem. Unfortunately for her, though, I have just what I need to get around this.'

"Alright, now that I have a demon stronger than yours, it's time to get the upper hand!" Izy exclaimed as she had Wattaildragon send a bolt of lightning toward Leviathan.

However, Rachel really did have a good counter to this as she revealed the trap she had set at the end of her turn, the rain drops forming into a big wave that protected her demon. Izy blinked as the black-haired woman explained, "The trap I just used was Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord. Until the end phase of this turn, any water-based demon I control whose level is three or lower cannot be destroyed this turn, and unfortunately for you, my Leviathan is level three."

Izy groaned as she ended her turn by setting a talisman, thinking, 'At least this will keep me safe. I just know it.'

And this seemed true as when Rachel drew, she only had one talisman in her hand. How could she possibly have drawn something useful?

However, it seemed as if she had as the black-haired woman placed the talisman on one of her squares, summoning a blue serpent with a white underbelly. He had a green gem on his forehead and wing-like fins on his sides. He was known as Codarus.

Izy failed to see how such a weak demon could be useful until one of the talismans used to summon Leviathan dragon went into Rachel's graveyard, the serpent letting out a loud roar while a strong blue aura surrounded him.

"What just happened?" Izy asked as Rachel explained, "It's quite simple. When I remove an overlay demon, Leviathan's attack rises by five hundred. I can only use this effect once per turn, but once is enough."

"You can't mean-" Izy uttered as Rachel nodded and had her serpent charge up an attack, a ball of light forming in his mouth.

'She would sacrifice her own demon hero to attack me with that weakling?' Izy thought as Rachel stated, "As you can see, Codarus' power is just high enough to destroy your armour. In other words, you're finished."

However, it seemed Izy was the one who finally get the drop on Rachel as she smirked and remarked, "That's what you think."

Rachel's eyes and mouth widened for the first time in the duel when Izy revealed the talisman she had set last turn, saying, "I activate the trap, Shadow Spell. With this, not only is your Leviathan unable to move, but he also loses seven hundred attack points."

And just as Izy had described, a tablet formed and fired a row of chains from it. Said chains bound themselves to Leviathan, the serpent unable to move as one chain wrapped itself around his mouth to prevent him from using his attack. And just as predicted, his strength seemed to lower as the aura vanished.

With all said and done, Rachel had no choice but to end her turn as she thought, 'It's fine. Her demon isn't powerful enough to defeat me anyway. I'm certain I'll draw something that can help me next turn.'

As Izy drew her next card, she smiled and said, "Alright, you've managed to stall your defeat long enough. It's time to end this."

With that, the brunette proceeded to place a talisman next to her Wattaildragon, a buff man clad in grey armour taking form, wielding a sword with a blue blade. His name was Warrior Dai Grepher.

"What's with the demons in your deck?" Rachel asked, "I've never seen so much variety," Izy grinning and replying, "Well, I've gotten talismans from quite a few different people in my life, so yeah, I don't stick to one type like most people do."

Izy then remembered that she finally had a chance to turn things around as her dragon sent another lightning bolt toward Leviathan. The serpent's eyes widened as this one managed to hit, the dragon attempting to roar in pain as his body turned into light, flying into Rachel's graveyard.

The woman gritted her teeth as the lightning his her armour, bringing her damage points down to twenty-nine hundred. And it did not end there as Dai Grepher proceeded to charge at Codarus, striking the serpent down the middle as he roared in pain, joining Leviathan in the graveyard. The warrior then proceeded to strike Rachel's armour as her damage points dropped to twenty-six hundred.

With that, Izy's turned came to a close as she took a deep breath, thinking, 'There. I did something right on my own. Hopefully, she won't have any more tricks up her sleeve.'

Rachel frowned and said, "I'll admit, you're a lot tougher than I first took you for. I wouldn't have expected so many impressive talismans from someone like you, but your luck is about to run dry."

'Was that a water pun?' Izy thought as Rachel drew a talisman and prayed for something she could use. And luckily for her, she had drawn something that could help.

"I now activate Pot of Greed so I may draw two more talismans," Rachel stated as she placed said spell into a slot and tapped it. And as stated, the two talismans on the top of her deck flew into her hand as she looked at them, her nerves starting to calm a bit. Clearly she had drawn something that could help her win this duel.

With that, the black-haired woman placed a talisman on her middle square and said, "Now I summon Warrior of Atlantis," as a blue humanoid creature appeared with a fin on his head. He had no mouth but a pair of blood-red eyes and attached to his wrist was a harpoon launcher.

Izy simply stared and asked, "How's that supposed to help?" Rachel remarking, "Just wait and see," as she activated another talisman.

A streak of light flew into the ocean warrior's back as a white motor with orange jets latched onto that exact spot. It was a rather odd creation to be seen in this time line, but it seemed to make the demon much stronger as he flexed his muscles.

"What is that thing?" Izy asked as Rachel replied, "This is an equip spell called Aqua Jet. I'm not really sure what a jet it's supposed to be, but it increases the attack power of any fish, sea serpent or aqua type demon wearing it by one thousand. In other words, my demon is more than strong enough to take down that dragon of yours."

'No,' Izy thought as Warrior of Atlantis flew toward Wattaildragon with his fist pointed outward.

Izy tried her best not to let down any tears when the dragon took the punch to the gut, coughing up blood as he turned into light and headed into her graveyard. However, it was getting more difficult as the fist was soon rammed into her armour, her damage points now reduced to nine hundred. Sure, she had not lost yet, but what could she possibly do at this point?

"You know, if you surrender, I won't think any less of you," Rachel stated, "Your partner may not have put up a fight, but you've done a very good job without him. I am proud of have had you as my adversary today."

However, Izy did not think much of this praise. To her, these words were empty. No, she had to do this. She had to win on her own for once and she was going to do it. Or at the very least, she would die trying.

"I won't surrender!" Izy exclaimed as she drew her next card. She had never been more serious in her life. She would win this duel no matter what.

At this moment, a couple of other knights were headed back to the castle from their own quest when they saw this, both of them heading over to watch the events unfold. One of them blinked and whispered, "Oh my god, Izy's getting her ass kicked," the other adding, "Yeah, poor kid. And Will's out cold. Can't say that surprises me."

Izy did not notice their presence, though, as she was too focused on this duel to care. All that mattered to her was the children and their teacher watching from behind the window, waiting to see if she could protect them or not.

And as she looked at her talisman, she did not see something that could win her the duel, but what she did have could at least protect her from harm as she placed the talisman next to Dai Grepher. And the warrior who appeared this time was a young girl with blond hair and black magician's outfit with a golden crest on the front of the hat. This was Golden Dragon Summoner.

"What good is that supposed to do?" Rachel asked as Izy replied, "Well, Golden Dragon Summoner has the power to return your demon to your hand as long as I do the same with one of mine, but that's not what I plan to do. After all, one thousand damage isn't enough to finish you off, but nine hundred is enough to finish me."

"Smart woman," Rachel replied as one of the other knights whispered, "Wow, that's actually a really good point," as the other beamed and asked, "You don't think she's going to summon her demon hero, do you?"

It seemed their suspicions were correct as Izy's fears had left her, an excited grin forming as she exclaimed, "Now I overlay both of my level four warriors to summon the mighty, beautiful, but not to be taken lightly, Utopia!"

'What?' Rachel thought with a look of shock as her warriors both turned into balls of light, combining together. And as the light faded, a familiar knight clad in white and golden armour appeared, swinging his mighty blade to let Rachel know that he meant business.

However, after the shock wore down, Rachel narrowed her eyelids and asked, "I don't get it. How is that supposed to help you?"

Izy blinked as the black-haired woman added, "That demon hero of yours is impressive, but he's too weak to take on my Warrior of Atlantis."

"Oh no, she's right," the other two knights groaned, however, Izy already knew this. She had drawn out Utopia to protect her in a different way, but she refused to reveal this as she held her hands to the sides of her head and exclaimed, "Oh no! You're right!"

With nothing else she could possibly do, Izy ended her turn as Rachel drew her next talisman and sighed, "You'll be remembered as a credit to your kingdom," before placing said talisman next to her warrior.

With that, a purple warrior that resembled a blue whale with legs appeared holding a trident, Rachel saying, "Abyss Soldier will deliver the final blow. You should be honoured. As you can see, he's a rather strong demon."

'Alright, here it comes,' Izy thought as Warrior of Atlantis once again soared toward Utopia. However, Izy had one of the overlay demons fly into her graveyard as Utopia held up his sword and blocked the attack, Warrior's eyes widening as he backed up.

"What was that?" Rachel asked as Izy replied, "See, I didn't summon Utopia to destroy your demon. I summoned him to keep him busy. See, at the cost of one overlay demon, Utopia can negate an incoming demon's attack."

'Impressive,' Rachel thought while narrowing her eyelids, "but all that does is keep her alive for another turn.'

"Oh man, that was scary," one of the two other knights uttered as the other sighed, "I gotta hand it to her. She's doing a lot better than usual."

But as Izy drew her next talisman's her eyes went wide as she thought, 'Oh no.'

And it seemed she had a good reason to be scared. The demon she had just drawn was the only one above level seven in her deck, one by the name of Beast King Barbaros. He was strong, but she needed two sacrifices to summon him, three for his special power. Sure, her pendulum mages were still set, but the highest level they could summon was seven.

'No,' the brunette thought, her positive attitude now gone as she knew it was over, Rachel asking, "So, you're finally out of moves? I'm impressed you even lasted this long."

No, Izy could not accept this. She had to think of something, something she was forgetting. And then it hit her. What was that last thing she had forgotten about the pendulums?

'Come on, think,' Izy thought as she looked back to her father teaching her about them. He was a rather slim man with short brown hair and green eyes and his name was Terry.

Izy was fifteen years old at the time and was seated in a chair while the man showed her the talismans, saying, "Now, pendulums are very tricky to use. It took some digging around, but I managed to find a tablet next to them with the instructions and jotted them down."

The man then pulled out sheet of paper with the instructions on them and went through all the facts Izy had remembered, such as how they could be set and used like spells. He explained how they could summon multiple demons at once, and he also told Izy about the level restriction. But there was one more detail that Izy needed to remember, and it was the last one he had told her.

"One last thing worth note," the man said, "When pendulum demons are set, you can choose to bring them into the magical field as a way of special summoning them. The only catch is that you can't set them or pendulum summon with them again."

'That's right!' Izy thought as a big smile formed on her face, 'I can win this!'

"What's with that smile?" Rachel asked as Izy smirked and remarked, "I'll have you know that I just found a way to end this duel for good!"

Rachel and the other two knights were shocked to hear this as Izy exclaimed, "Now, I move Stargazer and Timegazer out of the pendulum area and move them to the battle area!"

With that, both mages leapt onto the battlefield, each one standing next to Utopia on an opposite side. All the while, the other two stared as one asked, "Can she do that?"

"Well, her gauntlet didn't explode, so I guess she can," the other replied as Izy exclaimed, "And now, I sacrifice all three of my warriors in order to summon the demon king himself, Barbaros!"

Rachel panicked as a muscular lion with big red lance, a blue shield and the lower body of a panther appeared. However, Rachel was truly frightened when he let out a deafening roar, both of her demons flying into her graveyard.

"But how?" Rachel asked, the other knights just as confused as Izy explained, "See, if I use three demons to summon Barbaros, the first thing he does is destroy every single talisman on the opponent's side of the field. In other words, you have nothing to protect yourself with now."

With all said and done, Rachel took a deep breath and said, "I admit defeat. You may strike me down now," the woman holding out her arms, ready to take in the direct attack.

As such, Izy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking, 'Thank you, Dad. I'm finally going to be the hero I've always wanted to be.'

And without any more delays, the brunette had Barbaros charge at Rachel, ramming his lance into her armour as her damage points went all the way down to zero. The black-haired woman's armour cracked a bit before coming open completely, the woman standing her ground and saying, "Well, go on. Finish me off."

Despite how much of a challenge this had been, Izy simply took a deep breath and replied, "I don't believe in killing. As long as the citizens of Duel Kingdom are safe, that's all that matters to me."

Rachel then fell to her knees as Will had regained consciousness just in time to witness the final turn. And he could not believe it, but his heart was racing a mile a minute after seeing Izy spare her opponent without a second thought.

Suddenly, the sky seemed to clear as the teacher opened the window and said, "Thank you, Miss Knight!" the kids all cheering wildly for her, some of them even clapping.

Izy's mouth was wide open as a light tear escaped from the bottom of her left eye, Will slowly sitting up and grinning, saying, "Good job, Izy. That was amazing. I just wish I could have seen the whole thing."

Even the other two knights could not help but applaud the woman. She looked so close to failure and yet not only had she won, she had won under a disadvantage almost as big as the one she had when she faced Celeste.

With that, Rachel was soon handcuffed as the other knights offered to help take her to prison, Izy giving them her thanks as she held up Will on her shoulder and said, "Come on, let's head on back. We need to report this to the commander."

"Of course," Will replied with a bright smile. It was official. He definitely felt something for Izy, and it was more than infatuation.


	14. Chapter 14

Soon enough, Izy and Will returned to the castle while Rachel was taken to prison. She did not put up a struggle as she had accepted her loss. And though she had been prepared to die, a part of her was grateful that Izy chose to spare her.

Celeste was rather shocked when she saw the two return with Will being carried by Izy, his armour having been shattered thus leaving him in his thick, woollen undergarments. As the man saw the commander, he gave her a light wave with a look of embarrassment on his face.

"What happened?" the commander asked as she thought, 'I'm guessing Henry was right,' as Izy gave an army salute with her free hand and replied, "A knight from Rose Kingdom tried to attack the school, but we took care of her!"

Celeste's eyes widened as she nodded and replied, "Oh, well, good job," as Will sighed, "I can't really take any credit. Izy was the one who took care of the invader."

Celeste's eyes widened as the brunette was about to protest only for Will to grin nervously and say, "I was struck down before I could even do anything. You were the one dealing all the damage."

"Is this true?" Celeste asked as one of the knights leading Rachel to her cell overheard the conversation and asked her partner, "Can you take it from here?"

"Well, she's not fighting back, so alright," the other knight replied as the woman sprinted over to Celeste and exclaimed, "We witnessed the end of it!"

"Oh, Ella, you're back too," Celeste said as the woman ignored her words and exclaimed, "You should have seen it! Will was out cold! Izy's opponent had this super strong demon on her side of the field while Izy's warrior was weaker! She had nine hundred damage points left while her opponent still had twenty-six hundred, and then BOOM!"

Celeste and Izy both jumped in response to that as the other knight added, "She took her down in a single move! Just one demon obliterated her armour!"

The commander had to admit, she really was shocked and amazed. It took her a while to process all of this. Izy, who up until now did not seem to show much promise as far as skills went, actually managed to win after being brought that close to failure? And with barely any help, no less? Celeste had never had more trouble believing something, but at the same time, she had two witnesses to confirm this, meaning it had to be true.

With that in mind, the commander cleared her throat and said, "Well, good job," before whispering in Izy's ear, "Can you meet me later in the bathing area, say, after dinner? I'd like to talk to you in private."

Izy's eyes widened as the commander grumbled, "Not about that," before turning toward what seemed to be nothing and adding, "And I know you were all thinking it, too."

The brunette simply shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Okey dokey!" before carrying Will down the hall and saying, "Now you're going to see the nurse," the man groaning, "Why does that not excite me as much as it should?"

All the while, Taylor and Neil had finished training for the time being as Taylor patted her blond friend on the shoulder and said, "You've gotten a lot better," Neil asking, "Really?"

"Yes," the black-haired woman replied with a grin, "You actually dealt one thousand damage to me this time," the man blinking and saying, "You know, I've never dealt more than three hundred in a duel before, so I guess you're right."

All the while, Eric and Ben had also returned from their task as Eric gave his report. It seemed there were no Rose Kingdom invaders for them to duel, and while this disappointed Eric to a certain degree, he was glad that the elderly women he had been assigned to protect were safe.

However, once the prince gave his report, he immediately asked, "Any idea where Izy is?" Celeste nodding and replying, "She went off to the ward. Will took in some pretty bad injuries."

"Oh, is she okay?" Eric asked as Ben rose an eyebrow, seeing worry in the prince's expression as Celeste replied, "She took in some bruises, but she's nice and healthy."

"Thank you, ma'am," Eric replied with an army salute before taking off to find Izy, Ben tilting his head to the side as Celeste sighed, "I think I see why he recommended her now."

Soon enough, Eric entered and saw Will lying on a bed, looking like his movement was already starting to return as Izy said, "Anyway, I hope you get better soon."

"Thanks for carrying me all the way here," Will replied with a grin, "That must have been a real burden," the brunette shrugging and remarking, "Hey, we're friends. That's what friends do."

'Friends?' Will thought, his eyes sparkling as Eric placed a hand on Izy's shoulder and said, "Hey there, Izy."

"Oh, hi," Izy said as she turned to him, "How was protecting the elderly?" Eric sighing, "It was nice and simple. I would have liked someone to fight, but the safety of the people is more important."

Will looked at the two with interest as Izy beamed and said, "Things were pretty intense for us. We were attacked by this really strong knight. She took out Will in just one turn."

The man groaned and thought, 'Did she have to bring that up?' as Eric's eyes widened, the prince asking, "Wait, does that mean you defeated an enemy all by yourself?"

"I guess technically speaking-" Izy uttered as the prince held her hands and said, "I knew you were incredible, but if this knight was as strong as you say, you're even more amazing than I first thought."

Izy blushed lightly and chuckled, uttering, "Well, it's not like it was all me," Will perking up until she added, "It was my dad who taught me how to use pendulum summoning and work with it."

"Well, we all have to learn these things somewhere, right?" Eric replied with a shrug as Will tried his best not to look upset. But in a way, Izy was right not to mention him.

His spells and his knight had both been rendered useless before he could make any use of them, so in a sense, he really had done quite literally nothing. At the very least, one could argue that he took in damage for Izy, but both were sharing the same number of damage points.

However, the most alarming thing of all right now was how close Izy and Eric seemed to be. Like the others, Will had been under the impression that Eric was simply spending time with the brunette out of pity, but with the way they were getting along and how Eric seemed to care more about Izy's well-being than that of Will, there was no doubt about it. He definitely felt something for her. It might not have been love, but there was the still possibility, and Izy seemed to get along with him better than anyone else.

To make matters worse, it seemed Will might be left alone to dwell on this when Eric asked, "Hey, you wanna walk around the castle grounds before dinner?" Izy nodding and replying, "Sure. Maybe we can seek out Taylor and Neil and have them join us."

As she and the prince made their exit, Will let out a sigh and hung his head. The first woman he had ever felt genuine feelings for and she had already won the heart of royalty. How could he possibly compete with that?

Meanwhile, all the way in Rose Kingdom, Victoria seemed to have gotten down the concepts of duelling as she was in the midst of a practice duel with one the guards. She currently had two samurai warriors on her side of the field, one with green armour and two swords with magically enhanced blades and another with one blade humped over his shoulder, black armour with a cloth over certain parts of it and what looked like a visor over his eyes.

The guard, meanwhile, had a dragon made entirely out of golden bones on his side as he asked, "No offence, princess, but your samurais are not powerful enough to defeat my Curse of Dragon."

"That's why I'm not using them," the princess remarked as Richard, who was watching, cupped his hands together and prayed, "Please get this right."

His wife, a slender woman with long white hair, patted him on the shoulder and said, "There, there, I'm sure she knows what she's doing?" the king remarking, "After only one day of lessons?"

It seemed Victoria was a rather fast learner after all as she exclaimed, "I now overlay both of my samurais to summon Shadow of the Six Samurai, Shien!"

With that, both her warriors became balls of light and came together to form a samurai with blood red skin and a ponytail, his hair colour being a perfect match for the rest of his body. He also wore red armour under a purple vest, black pants while his armoured boots and gloves matched his body armour.

The guard, meanwhile, had only five hundred damage points left as his eyes widened, the princess sending her samurai at his dragon. The warrior held his blade back before slashing the demon's midsection open, the dragon flying into the guard's graveyard as he took in a strike to his armour.

With that, his damage points dropped to zero as the armour came open and fell to the floor. Seeing this, Richard blinked and stared silently, asking, "Did she do it?" Ruby nodding and replying, "Yes, honey, you're not imagining it."

With this in mind, the man took a deep breath and cleared his throat. Victoria turned to face him, wondering how he would react as the man could not hold back. He simply gave his daughter the most supportive smile he could and gave her a round of applause, saying, "Bravo, darling, bravo. I think you might have what it takes after all."

"You mean it?" Victoria asked with her eyes sparkling as the man nodded and replied, "But like all the others demons, you will not be receiving high-level assignments just yet. It's not because I'm concerned, though that's a part of it-"

"It's fine," Victoria replied as she gave her father a peck on the cheek, "Your approval is good enough for me."

Victoria then skipped off to join her fellow knights and get to know them better, Ruby smiling at Richard as the man sighed, "I still fear for her life, but she certainly has potential."

Later that night when dinner was over, Izy had gone to an area inside the castle specifically meant for the knights to have baths. It was not as fancy as the area that the royal family used, but it always did the job.

When Celeste arrived, she was shocked to see Izy stripped down as she asked, "What are you doing?" Izy shrugging and replying, "I thought you wanted to talk to me in the tub. That's why you chose the bathing area, right?"

The commander let out a sigh and shook her head, a light smile forming as she replied, "Actually, I chose this area because it's not the scheduled bathing time yet, but you know what? It would be nice to get in an early bath."

She then eyed Izy suspiciously until the brunette grinned and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Celeste shrugged her shoulders and started to remove her armour, saying, "As commander, I really should be setting a better example, but I guess there more important things to worry about in the world."

Once the commander had removed her clothes, both she and Izy got into a tub full of warm water and soaked in it, Celeste asking, "Hey, Izy, can you scrub my back for me? I'll scrub yours."

"Aw, you don't have to do that," Izy replied with a childish grin, "I would have done it anyway."

While Izy proceeded to grab a sponge and proceeded to scrub Celeste's back, the commander let out a sigh and said, "Izy, I feel like I owe you an apology."

"For what?" the brunette asked as Celeste replied, "I'm going to be honest. Every time you tried to apply for the army, I always felt a great deal of annoyance. I just prayed for the day you would give up and stop wasting everyone's time."

"Well, I already kinda knew that," Izy replied with a shrug, "Hey, I failed constantly. I can see why that would get annoying."

"True, but even after you passed, I thought it just felt so wrong having you here," the commander stated, "When I told you that you were unfit to be in the army and that the prince's decision was wrong, I wasn't trying to motivate you. I actually meant every word of that."

Izy's eyes and mouth were wide open. She was truly aghast. All this time, she never believed a commander could have a bias against a soldier, but then again, Celeste was only human. She had thoughts of her own, so this was certainly possible.

"I'm really sorry about that," Celeste replied with a light chuckle, "but I wanted to tell you that I was wrong. I think I seriously underestimated you. In fact, the whole reason I didn't assign any tasks to you myself was because I didn't think you could really protect anyone, but you proved me wrong."

Izy was silent for a few seconds as Celeste sighed, "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Well, maybe a little," Izy replied with a distraught look, "But you know what? What matters is the present, and if you consider me worthy of being in the army, then that's cool."

She then beamed bright and added, "And if it's not out of line, I think it would be awesome if we were friends."

Celeste's eyes widened as she could not believe what she had heard. Celeste used to have friends until she was promoted the general status. Since then, knights saw her as nothing more than their boss while villagers just saw her as the head protector. But for the first time in her life, one of her soldiers wanted to be her friend.

Her eyes darted back and forth to make sure no one could hear as she grinned and replied, "You know, I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

Meanwhile, a long way from the castle, the conjoined twins, Pamela and Phoebe, were in the middle of a duel with the cloaked knight who had bested Nelson. It seemed he had come across another rare talisman that the women had been sent to retrieve.

Currently, the sisters had a talisman set in a slot on their gauntlet along with a strange orange dragon with a long purple horn. This dragon also had green legs and a big mouth on its back and was known as Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon.

Currently, it seemed the cloaked figure might just suffer defeat as the dragon opened both of its mouths, sending two electrical spheres toward his own dragon, a pink one with a head shaped like two blades combined and bird-like wings named Seiyaryu. The lightning proved too much as the dragon let out a loud roar of pain and flew into the cloaked man's graveyard, the lightning hitting him hard as his damage points dropped from five hundred to two hundred.

"This guy's a joke!" Pamela exclaimed with a smirk, "We've almost won and he's barely dented us!"

And this seemed true as the sisters still had twenty-two hundred damage points, Phoebe sighing, "I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed. For all we know, this might not even be the same cloaked figure."

However, the man simply smirked under his cloak after drawing his next talisman and remarking, "I wouldn't count your chickens just yet. I just drew the key to your destruction."

The cloaked man had a total of six talismans in his hand and as such, he placed the first one in a slot and pressed it, explaining, "I now activate Polymerization to fuse the five dragons I hold in my hand."

With that, the man proceeded to slap all five of the talismans he was holding onto the field. The sisters were terrified to think of what five dragons would create as their talismans headed into the man's graveyard. The dragons themselves, though, proceeded to fly around one-another, their torsoes coming together as their heads transformed, some growing long necks.

One head became that of a blue serpent dragon with fins going down the back of its neck. The other was engulfed in flame. The middle head pitch-black with blood-red eyes. The forth head changed white and sprouted horns that resembled a crown on its skull. The final head became silver and metallic with green eyes and what looked like electricity coming from its mouth.

Pamela and Phoebe were terrified as the cloaked man explained, "By combining five dragons together, I have now summoned Five-Headed Dragon. Needless to say, there's not much you can do."

Pamela bit her lower lip as Phoebe exclaimed, "Quick, activate the trap!" only for the cloaked man to activate a talisman placed in a slot of his own and said, "Before you do that, allow me to retaliate with Mystical Space Typhoon," a gust of wind blowing against the set tablet and destroying it.

With that, the twins were done for as the dragon unleashed one blast from each head, all five hitting the thunder dragon hard as he cried out in pain. And when he soared into Phoebe and Pamela's graveyard, the two took in the blasts as their damage points dropped to zero, their armour coming open and falling to the ground.

Pamela had tears in her eyes as she sniffed, "Guess this is the end," Phoebe nodding and adding, "It was nice knowing you, sis."

But as the two braced themselves for death, they were shocked to see the cloaked figure had relinquished the magic field and fled from the area with the talisman he had taken. With that, the sisters laughed nervously before letting out a simultaneous sigh. Whoever this cloaked figure was, they hoped he would never come to Duel Kingdom.


	15. Chapter 15

Night had come around as just before bed, Pamela and Phoebe returned to the kingdom with barely enough strength to keep going. In fact, they were so weak that they had agreed to let a citizen going for a midnight stroll help them walk back without passing out.

The conjoined sisters gave their report to Celeste as she nodded and said, "Well, I'm glad you were able to make it back in one piece. Anyway, take a quick bath and return to the barrack as soon as you can."

"Yes, thank you, ma'am," Phoebe replied with an army salute as Pamela groaned, "I still can't believe we weren't prepared for that!"

As the sisters headed off toward the bathing area, Celeste took a deep breath and thought, 'That's the second time he's bested one of our top soldiers. I'd hate to meet this guy.'

She then shook her head and headed toward the barrack, knowing that no one else would return to the castle tonight. After all, the other top-ranked knights had been hired for escort quests that would take a total of two days to complete, so they were not expected back until tomorrow.

Soon enough, the commander entered the barrack as Izy beamed and waved to her, already undressed and under the covers. The other women in the area, Taylor included, were shocked when Celeste smiled at Izy, wishing her a goodnight. Sure, she had said this the past couple of nights, but only because it was the polite thing to do.

Meanwhile, in the men's barrack, Will watched Eric get ready for bed while thinking, 'Look at him, with his perfect physique and his status. He thinks just because he's a prince, he can take every woman for himself. Well, I'll show him. He's not even an expert when it comes to duelling! I'll prove myself the better knight tomorrow!'

Victoria, meanwhile, was beyond excited as she lay awake in her cot for a while. With her father's approval, she could finally go on quests. She would be able to infiltrate Duel Kingdom and possibly dig up dirt to help her father win the war, and then it would end and Richard could finally be at ease.

The following morning, the knights were enjoying their breakfast as Izy smiled at Taylor and Neil, asking, "So, how's training going along?"

"Well..." Neil uttered as he bit his lower lip, "It's going okay, I guess," Taylor pinching his cheek and asking, "Are you underestimating yourself again?"

Neil laughed nervously as Eric laughed and turned to Izy, asking, "Hey, you think we be able to work together again today?" the brunette shrugging and replying, "I dunno."

"Speaking of quests," Taylor said, tapping her chin, "what was up with Celeste last night? She looked rather happy to be near your last night," Neil and Eric each raising an eyebrow as Izy replied, "It's not a big deal. We're just friends now. That's it."

Some of the other knights seated nearby spat out some water they had been given to have with their gruel, all of them staring as one whispered, "Did I hear that right?"

"Wait, you're friends with the commander?" Neil asked, his eyes wide with fear as Izy nodded and replied, "Yeah, she seems scary, but she's actually a lot nicer than you'd think. The only real reason she acts so headstrong is because of her position."

Taylor smiled and said, "Wow, who would have ever guessed?" as the brunette nodded and replied, "She told me that once our work for the day was over, she wouldn't mind just spending some quality time with us after dinner."

Again, no one could believe what they had heard, especially Catherine. The blond knight the braided hair had her teeth gritted. As if having the prince spend time with her was not enough, now Izy was apparently good friends with the commander? And in less than a week? That made no sense to her whatsoever.

'That's right,' Neil thought as he asked, "Hey, Eric, can I talk to you for a bit before we get our assignments?" Eric nodding and replying, "Well, we still have about ten minutes. I don't see why not."

And once breakfast was over, the two men walked off with Eric patting the blond knight on the shoulder, saying, "You know, if you're asking me to train you, I'll happily do it. No need to ask in private," Neil sighing, "I'm perfectly content with Taylor training me."

Taylor was rather confused by this sudden action but shrugged her shoulders. Neil was the most innocent guy she knew, so there was no way he could be planning anything bad, right?

As he and Eric entered the hallway, Neil took a deep breath as Eric grinned and asked, "Oh, I think I got it. This is about impressing Taylor, isn't it?" the blond knight's eyes and mouth wide open as he retorted, "N-n-no! We're just really good friends! I don't see her that way at all!"

The man then took a deep breath and asked, "Eric, I hate to ask such an awkward question, but are you really our friend?"

The prince blinked, quickly catching onto what the blond knight meant as he sighed. He then rested his hands on the Neil's shoulders and grinned before saying, "I know it might seem like I'm just spending time with you guys out of pity, but mark my words, I would never fake friendship."

"Oh, okay," Neil replied with a light smile, "That's actually kind of cool, you know, being friends with a prince."

Eric nodded before sighing, "Though there is something I have to confess. A small part of why I first sat at the same table as you was because of Izy."

"Oh yeah, you do seem to be very fond of her," Neil replied with a shrug as the prince took a deep breath and added, "Yeah, um, can you keep a secret?"

The blond knight bit his lip as Eric added, "And you can't tell the others either. I intend to let them know when the time comes, but I feel that as guy friends, we can talk about this sort of thing."

"Oh god," Neil groaned, "You may be asking too much. I'd most likely tell Taylor," Eric sighing, "Alright, I won't force it on you, I guess."

"Wait," the blond knight replied, "I'll do my best. What kind of friend would I be if I couldn't do something for another, right?" the man surprised to hear himself say that. Perhaps he was growing up.

Eric grinned and did not even bother to question this further, the man signalling Neil to get closer. He then whispered into his ear, "I'm in love with Izy."

Neil's eyes widened as Eric sighed, "When I saw her duel with Celeste and heard how committed she was to serving the kingdom, it set my heart ablaze. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met," all the while trying not to use a loud voice in case anyone else was nearby.

Neil blinked and asked, "So, why do I have to keep this a secret?" Eric resting a hand on his shoulder and replying, "You'll understand the day you fall in love. It is much better if I reveal my feelings for Izy and no one else. Promise me you won't breathe a word of it to anyone."

The blond nodded his head and replied, "Well, you took the time to be friends with a loser like me. The least I can do is keep your secret," Eric grinning and replying, "Thank you, though you might need to keep it for a while. Mom figures it would be better if I wait a while before confessing, you know."

That Neil did understand. After all, Eric had only recently met Izy, so he had not known her long enough. Though most princes would have simply used their status to arrange a marriage. Eric, at the very least, was taking a much more sensible approach.

"Anyway, it feels good to tell someone," Eric said with a sigh of relief, "I haven't exactly told Mom. I get the feeling if I stated any names, she might try to interfere. Dad would likely try to suggest better alternatives, and that is not something I wanna deal with."

"And you trust me of all people with this secret," Neil replied with his eyes wide with shock, Eric nodding and saying, "Yep, I trust you entirely."

With that, the prince headed off to the front gate as that was where Celeste always gave out assignments, Neil thinking, 'He trusts me, for real,' a serious look forming as his mind added, 'I will carry this secret with me to my grave if I have to. After all, if I can't carry out a simple task like this, then what am I doing performing knight duties?'

And when Eric arrived, he noticed he was surprisingly first. When Celeste noticed Izy approaching along with the other knights, she simply smiled and gave a light wave. However, that smile was quickly replaced by a serious look as the other knights stared at Izy in disbelief, Catherine trying her best not to show how much this angered her. How could someone so undeserving not only soak up all of Prince Eric's attention but also be friends with Celeste?

Whatever the case, today certainly seemed more busy than yesterday as the commander seemed to need many different knights. Neil and Taylor had been sent to protect the orphanage from any potential threats. Will, all the while, was shocked when Eric had been paired up with him, both knights having been assigned the task of guarding the church. Sure, that was not exactly a hot spot for invading Rose Kingdom knights, but it was still one of seven specific locations that always needed knights to guard it no matter what.

However, Catherine was absolutely devastated when Celeste said, "Catherine, Izy, I want you two to handle one of the more important assignments today. Seems Mr. Gregory was attacked by one of Rose Kingdom's soldiers yesterday and barely managed to avoid being caught in a magic field. Now he wants someone to guard him in case they come back for him."

"Why would they care about some random citizen?" Catherine remarked as Celeste replied, "Apparently, he saw the knight's gauntlet and figured out that person had to have been a Rose Kingdom spy."

"So it's like Sharon's case," Izy replied with a nod, "Well, he can count on us, right, Catherine?"

The brunette grinned at her partner who simply rolled her eyes, thinking, 'Well, he can certainly count on me. You'll just get in the way.'

"Excellent," Celeste said with a nod of her head while Izy headed toward the main gate, Catherine rolling her eyes and following, though she did not look the least bit enthusiastic. Of all the people to be partnered up with, it just had to be Izy.

It was not long until Will and Eric arrived at the church. Both kept a watchful eye out for a potential attack while Will thought, 'It's highly unlikely we'll have to deal with anyone today. Maybe I should just challenge him now.'

However, he knew better than that. From now until the day's sermons were over, their job was to make sure no one got in. Even so, Will just wanted to challenge Eric to a duel and prove himself as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Neil and Taylor were in front of the orphanage as Taylor asked, "Hey, wanna go inside and check up on the kids?" the blond sighing, "You know we're supposed to keep watch out here."

"Of course," the black-haired woman replied with a smile before pinching Neil's cheek and adding, "See? You have plenty of knowledge of how the job works," the blond knight laughing nervously.

However, the two who would certainly have the most trouble today were Izy and Catherine. As the duo arrived at the house of Mr. Gregory, Catherine had her partner step aside while she knocked on the door.

"Now, Izy, you have one simple task," the blond woman stated, "Just follow my lead and our client will be safe for sure."

A young man with dirty black hair answered with his teeth chattering as he asked, "You from the castle?" Izy about to respond when Catherine stepped in front of her and replied, "That's right. We were sent to protect you from a possible assassination attempt."

"Thank you so much," the man replied with a deep breath, his eyes darting back and forth as he added, "I just need to pick up a few things at the store. That's about it. Once I'm back home you won't have to worry about me."

"Worry not," Catherine replied with an overconfident look on her face, "You are in the best of hands," Izy failing to realize that the blond woman was specifically referring to herself and only herself.

"Well, I feel safe already," Gregory replied with a grin, "Now let's get going. That pantry isn't going to fill itself," the man still looking jumpy as if he was not really as reassured as he let on.

'I'll show you,' Catherine thought with a scowl, 'I may not have a demon hero like you, but my deck is significantly better than yours. Just you watch.'

But while she and Izy walked with Gregory toward the market, a couple of bystanders saw them walk by, looking up from newspapers that they were holding. Something certainly seemed suspicious about these two.

While waiting, Will took a deep breath and turned to face Eric, asking, "So, how's knighthood so far?" Eric grinning and replying, "It's great! For so long, I've wanted to do something of worth, you know, instead of just being a spoiled child! I feel like I'm really making a difference, you know?"

'Dammit!' Will thought, 'He's so much like Izy, it's painful! Maybe he is better for her,' the man then taking a deep breath as his mind added, 'No, if anything, he's too much like her. If she ends up with him, it'll be like marrying herself. No one wants that, right? So if anything, I'd be doing her a favour.'

"Something the matter?" Eric asked as Will gulped and replied, "Well, if it's not too much trouble, I figured that maybe after our task is over, maybe you and I could have a practice duel."

"You're okay just having a friendly round with me?" Eric asked, his eyes wide open as Will nodded and replied, "Yeah, I figure you'd be good practice. You must have plenty of skill, right?" while thinking, 'The others may think so, but I'm onto you. I heard how Izy did most of the work for you in your first duel. This'll be a cinch.'

"Well, I'd be delighted," Eric replied with a grin, "though it might very well be me benefiting the most. I mean, you're the one with months of experience. I've never even had lessons."

'Just as I thought, easy,' Will thought with a light grin, though he did his best not to make it look malicious. After all, he did not wish for the prince to know his true intentions. Who was to say the boy would not have his father punish him for such thoughts?

During this time, Gregory was close to the market, still looking scared as could be while his eyes darted back and forth, the man saying, "Thank goodness. We're almost there," Izy sighing, "Relax, okay? You're in good hands."

"She is absolutely right," Catherine replied with a nod of her head, "I will do everything in my power to protect you," Izy about to retort when suddenly, she noticed the pair from earlier and tapped Celeste on the back of the head, seeing as her shoulder was covered in armour thus making it difficult for her to feel a poke there.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Catherine snapped as Izy pointed at the two strangers and said, "I just noticed those guys have been following us this whole time."

Both went wide-eyed as they turned around, hoping this would make them look less suspicious as Catherine rolled her eyes and remarked, "Take it from a real knight. If anyone was following us, I would have picked up on it right away. Our duty is to protect people from actual invaders, not people who we merely assume are invaders."

"Well, if you say so," Izy replied with a shrug, thinking, 'I could have sworn I saw those exact same people earlier.'

"Can you two hurry up, please!?" Gregory exclaimed, "You're making me nervous!" Catherine sighing, "Sorry. My partner distracted me. Can you believe that?"

Izy looked confused when Gregory moved ahead. It was at this exact moment, as the strangers smirked, one whispering, "He's far enough for us to trap him in the magic field without them."

However, just as they readied themselves to sprint around a corner to jump Gregory before the knights could keep up, Izy frowned and thought, 'I knew it!' before jogging over to Gregory's side, Catherine asking, "What are you-?"

However, she was cut off when the two strangers had managed to run past her and right in front of Gregory only for Izy to stand in the way shouting, "NOT SO FAST!" readying her duelling gauntlet.

Catherine growled and thought, 'Oh no you don't!' racing into the area as Izy gave her enough time, activating her gauntlet and saying, "Mr. Gregory, back up!"

The man nodded and did just that as the men reached into satchels on their sides and pulling out duelling gauntlets of their own, Izy noticing Catherine next to her as she grinned and said, "Good, now we can take these guys together."

"No, I'll take them by-" Catherine pleaded only for Izy to press her hand against the gem on her gauntlet before the invaders could do the same, the magic field forming around all four knights.

"Dammit, they beat us to the punch," one of the strangers, a man with orange hair and sideburns groaned as the other, a man with a bald head and a grey beard sighing, "Well, it's too late to dwell on that now," the two forming their armour from inside the gauntlets.

"So those are the Rose Kingdom gauntlets I've been hearing about," Catherine said with a nod before turning to Izy and saying, "I'll admit, starting the duel ahead of time was a good idea, and I applaud you for actually waiting for me, but as the team that issued the challenge, I say that I should be the one to start this duel."

"That's fine by me," Izy replied with a shrug as Catherine frowned and thought, 'I don't know what you're planning, but I'll show you. I'll defeat both of these guys without even needing your help. Even if you drag me down, I'll still win this duel.'


	16. Chapter 16

Catherine was now ready to prove to Izy that she was the superior knight and much more deserving of Eric as she drew five talismans. There was no way she would let Izy soak up all the credit, not when her deck was so much better.

But before they could begin, Izy grinned and exclaimed, "Before we begin, I am Dame Izy of Duel Kingdom!" Catherine blinking while thinking, 'Oh yeah, it's customary to introduce one's self to her opponent before a duel.'

With that, she cleared her throat and added, "Yes, an I am Catherine of Duel Kingdom," bowing her head while the Rose Kingdom knights blinked, the bald one saying, "Guess we should do the same."

With that, the man with orange hair stated, "I am Darien of the Rose Kingdom!" while the bald man added, "And I am Cole of the Rose Kingdom!"

Darien struck a cool pose while Cole simply rolled his eyes and said, "You're milking it," the orange-haired man remarking, "You're just being a spoilsport."

'Okay, these two don't seem all that smart,' Catherine thought, 'This'll be even easier than I first thought.'

With that in mind, the blond woman turned to Izy and smirked, saying, "Watch me set up the perfect starting move," before placing a talisman face-down and sideways on the middle square, a big boulder appearing in front of her. She then activated her own Pot of Greed spell thus allowing both knights to draw two talismans each, Izy smiling and saying, "Thanks," only for her blond partner to retort, "This was mostly because I could use more talismans."

Gregory, all the while, really hoped this would turn out well as Catherine set two talismans into her slots and said, "Just try to stop me now."

Cole's turn came next as he drew a talisman and said, "If that's supposed to intimidate me, you have another thing coming. You might not think it, but we're better than we look," Darien nodding and adding, "Yeah, show her just how serious we are."

The bald man nodded as he summoned a light-blue woman with talons for hands and dark-blue wings attached to them. She had long red hair and a rather provocative dress and was known as Harpie Lady.

Izy blinked and looked around, saying, "Phew, no children in the area," Catherine rolling her eyes and retorting, "Is that really important?" before smirking and thinking, 'After all that big talk, this was the best he had? Harpies are weaklings. This is going to be a cinch.'

"It doesn't end here, though," Cole added as he placed a talisman into a slot and tapped it, saying, "I now activate the spell, Elegant Egotist. This allows me summon another Harpie from my hand or deck, but since I don't want to waste my hand, I'll choose one from my deck."

'Does that mean he has more than two?' Catherine thought, 'Then again, there did exist more harpies in the world than most other demons, so I guess it only makes sense, but most people choose not to keep those weaklings and just sell them for small change.'

As the man summoned another Harpie Lady, this one with slightly different features than the other one, he then grinned and added, "By the way, it doesn't end there."

"It doesn't?" Catherine asked as Darien nodded and grinned, saying, "Yeah, I entrusted one of our best demons to Cole as he actually knows how to bring her out," the bald man adding, "That's right. See, a lot of people underestimate harpies, but with the right combination, they can be quite useful, and that Elegant Egotist spell, which is specifically made for them, is very helpful."

With that, both demonic women changed into balls of light and combined together as Cole exclaimed, "I now overlay both of my Harpie Ladies in order to summon Ice Beast Zerofyne!" Catherine's eyes and mouth wide open as Izy looked rather scared as well.

A blue woman with a dark-purple spiky helmet appeared. This woman also had prongs made from the same material attached to her wrists and a crystal tutu. She also had high-heel shoes made from the same substance and two wing-like formations attached to her back.

"How do you like that?" Cole asked with a smirk, "We brought out this lovely creature rather quickly," Darien panting and saying, "As much as I like the harpies, this one gets major points for her dress code."

"Oh, yeah, that's true, isn't it?" Cole asked before asking, "Hey, Zerofyne, can you turn and face me?" the demon having no choice but to obey as both he and his partner stared at her chest seeing as she did not have a top like the other harpies.

"Oh my god, these guys are complete perverts!" Catherine exclaimed while thinking, 'That guy talks about how harpies can be strong, but I don't even think he really cares about their power. I bet he just uses them because they're hot.'

Izy simply folded her arms and asked, "Well, are you going to do something with that?" Cole sighing, "She's right, we gotta finish this soon," Gregory gulping before saying, "Oh, that's right, they're after me."

However, while Gregory looked intimidated, Catherine's shock was replaced by her initial confidence as she thought, 'Actually, this isn't too bad. Their demon is still too weak to defeat mine and both of my traps will make things even more difficult for them.'

"Now two more things before I launch my attack," Cole said as he placed another talisman into a spell slot and activated it. A big gust of wind came from a tablet and swept up all of Catherine's set spells, sending them to her graveyard as she uttered, "Oh no, you don't also have that spell, do you?"

"That's right, what you just saw was Harpie's Feather Duster," Cole explained with a grin, "It removes all spells and traps from the opponent's side of the field," Izy biting her lip nervously.

When Catherine saw this, she thought, 'I knew she couldn't possibly have anything to counter this. That face says it all.'

"There's one last thing," Cole added as he activated one last spell for the turn, a small light flying around Zerofyne as he added, "My XYZ Unit will increase her attack by an addition eight hundred points."

'So Eric's not the only one who has that,' Izy thought as now Catherine was worried, and her fear would only heighten when Zerofyne flew toward her demon, using one set of prongs to shatter the boulder protecting it.

The demon in question was revealed to be a floating green and blue golem with big hands protecting its torso. This was known as Stone Statue of the Aztecs and it had a very strong defence, but not strong enough to survive this attack as its body crumbled to pieces, flying into Catherine's graveyard.

'No!' the blond knight thought while trembling, 'And that loser is going next!' Cole smirking and saying, "Not gonna lie, that could have been bad if I'd just attacked blindly."

"Yeah, good thing we're master strategists, eh, partner?" Darien replied as the bald man nodded, both men giving each-other a high five.

Gregory gulped nervously as Izy drew her next talisman and said, "Don't worry, I can turn this around," Catherine thinking, 'Keep telling yourself that. At the very least, please put up a decent defence so I can make up for this.'

As Izy looked over her hand, she noticed her demons were too weak to take on Zerofyne. But at the very least, she had a spell that could make things easier as she placed it into a slot and activated it, a gust of wind headed toward XYZ Unit and destroying it, the ice demon now back to only two overlay units.

As her attack returned to normal, Cole blinked and said, "Seems we're not the only ones who can destroy spells," while Catherine kept her cool and said, "Mystical Space Typhoon, eh? Not bad, but it's one of those spells almost everyone has. It's just a good thing you drew it when you did."

"Well, it doesn't end there," as the woman set two more talismans into slots and then proceeded to summon a demon in defence position, ending her turn.

Catherine looked unimpressed as she groaned, thinking, 'Well, at least she weakened their demon hero, but what good does that do us? They're probably gonna wipe out our damage points this turn and all because she barely had anything useful.'

As Darien's turn started, the orange-haired man smirked and said, "Well, you two have at least done an okay job keeping us at bay, but don't think for a minute that Cole here is the only one with strong demons in his deck. As a matter of fact, I've got a trio you're going to love."

With that, the man proceeded to summon a harpy of his own, only this one had long green wings coming out of her her arms as opposed to her wrists. This was a slight change as Darien exclaimed, "Say hello to Harpie Lady One, proof that you can take an already sexy demon and make her even sexier!"

"I've heard of her," Catherine stated, "Yeah, she's one of three Harpie Lady Sisters, the princesses of the harpy race. They have some added powers, and this particular one I believe increases the attack power of wind based demons, right?" the blond knight looking rather proud of herself for knowing this as she was fully aware of Izy's lack of knowledge.

Izy looked a tad worried while Catherine thought, 'This isn't a big deal for me. That woman only gets an additional three hundred and it's not like there are other wind based demons. We'll probably take in sixteen hundred damage, but that's actually not too bad.'

"Unfortunately for you, Cole here isn't the only one with Elegant Egotist," Darien added with a smirk as Cole nodded and said, "Yeah, you're gonna love this," Catherine's eye twitching while Gregory started to panic even more than he had been this whole time.

Darien then proceeded to activate two talismans, both of which contained the aforementioned spell. Neither Catherine nor Izy could believe just how amazing this man's luck was for him to draw that exact spell twice, but even so, it seemed like Catherine's initial fear of losing before her second turn might very well come true.

Darien used the magic to summon two other harpies, each with a different look. The first to appear, Harpie Lady Two, had short orange hair with an eagle cut. And the third one, Harpie Lady Three, had spiked blue hair. Though as far as body structure and facial features went, they looked exactly the same.

"Wow, they're like triplets," Izy said, her eyes sparkling as Catherine sighed, "Of course, you wouldn't know a thing about the Harpie Lady sisters."

"So they're actually-?" Izy asked as Catherine cut in and replied, "Yes, they are, in fact, sisters, and they had three others who were also sealed together in a separate talisman."

Cole nodded as the blond knight groaned, "You have that talisman, don't you?" the bald knight nodding and replying, "You're more observant than I first thought."

However, this hardly seemed to matter as thanks to the first sister's power, all three harpies had a combined total of forty-eight hundred attack power, meaning they could easily have Zerofyne destroy Izy's defending demon and end the duel right here and now.

Even Izy seemed to have caught onto this as she had a scared look in her eyes. But while Catherine saw this as her admitting defeat, the woman was actually thinking, 'Please let this work. Don't tell me he has Harpie's Feather Duster too.'

And it seemed she might just get her wish as Darien exclaimed, "To start things off, I'll take care of that defending demon of yours with Zerofyne!" the ice demon flying toward the demon in question.

However, it seemed Izy had a plan as she smirked and said, "I'll admit, that was actually kind of cool how you brought them all out like that, but I'm ready for this!"

"Wait, you are?" Catherine uttered as Izy nodded and pressed her hand against one of the talismans she had set last turn, exclaiming, "I now activate my trap, Punch-In-The-Box!"

"Wait, what was that name again?" Cole asked as a big blue box with a smiling face on each of its sides appeared. The lid then opened up as a big red fist made of rubber sprang out and planting itself into the face of Harpie Lady One, the demon turning into light and flying into Darien's graveyard.

"Wait, why would you aim for-?" the orange-haired knight asked when suddenly, three demonic balls sprang out of the box, one blue, one yellow and one green and got in close to Zerofyne's face before sticking out their tongues and rolling their eyes, making comical mouth-noises all the while.

'This is one of her circus-based talismans,' Catherine thought with a grimace, 'I can't believe she actually saved us with one of those disgraceful things!'

And it seemed to work as Zerofyne's body started to shake, the demon's eyes closing tight as she held onto her sides and broke out into hysterics, too distracted to finish her attack. All the while, everyone except Izy was confused. Even Gregory was curious as to what happened.

As if that was not enough, it seemed too much laughter caused Zerofyne's bones to crack a bit, her strength now having dropped significantly as Izy grinned and explained, "Punch-In-The-Box is one of my most effective traps. See, when a demon attacks me while more than one is on my opponent's side of the field, this trap can destroy another demon of my choosing while negating the attack of the incoming demon. And as an added bonus, the demon whose attack was just negated loses attack equal to the opponent's attack or defence power, and since your Harpie had a higher defence, I choose to reduce Zerofyne's power by that amount."

Catherine's eyes were wide with shock as Darien groaned, "And to make matters worse, my other harpies are weaker now. Are you okay, my lovelies?" the harpies looking at him with fear in their expressions.

Cole simply rolled his eyes and said, "It's fine, Darien. We can still deal damage this turn," Darien nodding and replying, "You're right. I just about lost sight of that."

With that in mind, Darien had Harpie Lady Two rushed at the defending demon and strike the boulder open, revealing a light-green humanoid creature clad in dark-green armour, a mechanical snake wrapped around him. This was Hydrotortoise, the Empowered Warrior, and while his attack would have been enough to survive this strike, his defence was low enough for the harpy's next slash to send him to the graveyard.

Izy braced herself as as Harpie Lady Three charged at her and struck her armour, bringing her and Catherine's damage points down to twenty-seven hundred. Cole then took a deep breath and said, "See? We still dealt damage in the end."

However, despite all of this, Catherine could not help but feel at least a little surprised. Sure, Izy had not prevented the two from sustaining damage, but she had stopped them from losing a great deal. Not only did she destroy the correct Harpie with her trap, but she also weakened the most powerful demon that Cole and Darien had on their side. In other words, they had rendered the duo vulnerable.

And as Darien's turn was just about to come to a close, Izy grinned and said, "I guess I may as well activate this little trap too," before revealing her other set talisman, adding, "My Jar of Greed isn't harmful to you guys, but it is helpful for us as it allows each of us to draw one talisman."

Catherine was a little happy about this but refused to acknowledge this as helpful. The talisman she drew was not even that good anyway, so it was not as if Izy had really helped her.

However, she would soon rethink that as she drew her next talisman at the start of her turn. The blond knight's eyes widened as she had drawn the perfect talisman, the one that could truly turn the tide of this duel and make things better for the women. And as much as it pained her to admit it, if Izy had not activated her Jar of Greed, Catherine would not have drawn this particular talisman.

Catherine simply acted as if this was not a big deal as she smirked and said, "Well, Izy, I thank you for providing a good shield as now I have just what I need to teach these guys a lesson!"

With that, the blond woman placed the talisman she had drawn at the start of her turn onto the middle square, the talisman for her stone statue vanishing losing its magic power and turning grey. This brought forth a red ogre with a grey vest and loin cloth, each made of stone. With a horn on his forehead and a withered tree as his weapon, this was Gigantes and his power was quite high considering his level.

"Oh no," Cole groaned as Catherine smirked and asked, "Impressed? This bad boy here can only be summoned if I remove an earth based demon in my graveyard from play, and I chose the stone statue you destroyed last turn. If anything, your Zerofyne actually helped me a lot more than you could have imagined!" the blond knight still trying to make it sound as if Izy had not played a part in her summoning this very demon.

And it only seemed to get better as the blond knight added, "By the way, he was special summoned, meaning I can bring out another demon, but the one I have in mind will serve me more in defence position, so I'll go with that."

On that note, she placed another talisman on the square next to Gigantes, only this one was face-down and set sideways. As such, a boulder appeared before her as she ended her main phase by placing a tablet in a slot and activating it.

"And just in case," she added, "I activate the field spell, Canyon," the fighting area inside the magic circle transforming into that very type of location, the blond knight explaining, "See, if you attack a demon with a higher defence than your demon's attack power, you take in twice the damage you would normally receive."

"Oh no," Darien groaned as Cole sighed, "This is a minor setback. We can handle a little damage."

With all said and done, Gigantes charged at Zerofyne and rammed his tree hard into the ice demon's face, her body becoming light and flying into Cole's graveyard. He then took a hard blow to his armour as his and Darien's damage points were reduced to twenty-eight hundred.

"Wow, that was awesome!" Izy exclaimed with a big grin, Catherine rolling her eyes and remarking, "Naturally," though Izy failed to notice the smugness in her tone when she said this. Right now, Catherine just wanted to at least deliver the final blow so she could take most of the credit even if Izy was the reason she was even able to pull that off.

'That's right,' she thought, 'Gregory will talk about I finished these two off and saved his life. He'll simply refer to Izy as that little helper who gave me a small push. Then Celeste and Eric will want to be friends with me, the more deserving knight.'

However, it seemed Cole was more than confident in this turn as he smirked and said, "I'll admit, you've actually put up a good fight. I didn't think you'd be able to stop my Zerofyne so easily," Darien asking, "Speaking of which, why didn't you use her power?"

"Because it only works during my turn," Cole groaned, "And, well, when I summoned him, I didn't really need it."

"Oh, okay," Darien replied, "I'd forgotten about that."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Cole said with a smirk after drawing his next talisman, "because I already got something that'll turn this around."

'He can't possibly mean-' Catherine thought with her eyes wide open, Izy hoping this would not be too difficult to overcome.


	17. Chapter 17

Cole was way too confident for someone who had his demon hero destroyed. But there was just no way. Even if he had the talisman she Catherine was thinking of in his hand, there was no way he could use it as it would require a certain spell to use, and that particular spell had been used three times. What were the odds that he would be in possession of a forth copy when most people would have been lucky to have two copies of a single spell?

"With two harpies on our side of the field, I can activate the forth and final copy of Elegant Egotist!" the bald knight exclaimed as Izy was just as shocked was Catherine, "And with this, I call forth the beautiful and powerful Harpie Lady Sisters!"

Three harpies who looked exactly the other three Darien had summoned appeared, only these demons were dressed in golden armour, and despite covering a lot more than just the midsection of their bosoms, the one parts they did not protect were the shoulders.

Even so, this hardly mattered as all three counted as one demon with an attack power of nineteen hundred and fifty, just enough to overpower Gigantes. However, it did not seem to end there as Darien asked, "Hey, you got that spell that'll make things ever better for us?"

"You'd better believe it," Cole replied as Gregory bit his fingernails, fearing for his life while Cole added, "Since these lovely ladies were special summoned, I can now still perform a normal summon, and I choose my Harpie Channeler."

Catherine did not even wish to know how useful this would be, but did seem a tad relieved when the woman summoned was not that much stronger than the single harpies. She had reddish-orange hair with pigtails and wore a revealing white dress with no material to cover the bellybutton. Her legs were laced with white stockings and her arms were blue with matching wings. In her right hand was a golden staff with a chain holding a bear trap in the other.

"Wow, what a waste," Catherine said with a smirk as Izy remarked, "Don't forget, they've managed to surprise us with everyone else so far."

"You ally's right," Cole said with a smirk, "See, Harpie Channeler is not meant to attack either of your demons. She serves a much higher purpose as at the cost of my last Harpie Lady, I can use her power to summon any demon with Harpie in the name from my deck."

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be great," Darien said with a smirk as Izy bit her lower lip, Cole discarding the Harpie Lady he had saved in his hand since the duel started.

With that, Channeler held aloft her staff and released a burst of magic, a bright light shooting into the air before hitting the space next to her. With that, a specific talisman shot out of Cole's deck as he exclaimed, "INTRODUCING THE ALL-POWERFUL HARPIE'S PET DRAGON!"

The light faded to reveal a big red dragon with a golden crest atop her eyelids and a collar with a chain attached, the Harpie sisters holding said chain and stroking their on the head, ears and chin. Izy, Catherine and especially Gregory were all terrified as there was no doubt that this was the most powerful demon these two men had.

"Not only is the pet dragon strong," Darien explained with a smirk, "but for every Harpie Lady on the field, this big, strong girl gains three hundred attack points."

"So it goes up by nine hundred, then," Izy uttered as Cole remarked, "Actually, it's twelve hundred. See, when Harpie Channeler is on the field, her name changes to Harpie Lady, so she adds to the dragon's power as well."

There was no doubt about it. If Catherine's defending demon was destroyed, she and Izy would be doomed. The combined power of all five demons was so high, that even to not deal damage with one of them would not be enough to prevent the women's failure.

And it seemed that might just happen when Cole placed the last talisman in his hand into a slot saying, "And seeing as your last demon had such high defence, I figure it might be a good idea to get special precautions and activate Triangle Ecstasy Spark. This raises the attack power of my Harpie Lady Sisters by seven hundred until the end of this turn."

When all three sisters grinned wickedly while flexing their muscles, Catherine could no longer feel confident, Izy showing the most fear of all. It was just like every other time the odds were against her. She knew how much was on the line and what failure would mean, and Gregory just wanted to flee for his life but refused to do so in case there were other Rose Kingdom knights waiting for him elsewhere.

Catherine braced herself as the dragon unleashed a burst of fire toward Gigantes, the ogre's body burnt to a crisp as he soon became a flash of light and flew into the blond knight's graveyard. And it did not end there as the fire proceeded to strike her armour, bringing both her and Izy's damage points down to fourteen hundred.

"Alright, it's time to end this!" Darien exclaimed as Cole gave him thumbs up and said, "Yeah, Richard's gonna be so pleased with us!"

And it truly seemed like the end when the Harpie sisters came together and formed a magical triangle, a burst of energy forming as they fired it in the form of a beam toward Catherine's defending demon. However, when the boulder protecting said demon was destroyed, his blond owner started to perk up when she noticed its form.

"That's right," she said with a sigh of relief, "I got so caught up in the moment, I forgot that the demon I set was Sand Moth!"

This creature in question was a big sand demon with a human-like build, save for a neck and head that resembled a faucet. He also had what looked like tusks protruding from his back.

However, it seemed this was not the helpful demon Catherine made him out to be as a hole was blasted through his torso, the sand monster turning into light and flying into the blond knight's graveyard. Darien, Cole and Izy were both confused by how happy she was as Cole asked, "What are you smiling about? Your demon just got destroyed."

"Yes, but he had a special power that makes him difficult to kill," Catherine replied with a smirk, "for if he is destroyed while face-down by battle, I can bring him back from my graveyard with his attack and defence power switched!"

As Sand Moth returned, Cole groaned, "Oh no, this isn't good at all," and this certainly seemed so, at least for them, as Sand Moth's defence was initially two thousand.

Celeste then held her hands against her hips and thought, 'I hate to admit it, Izy, but I wouldn't have been able to set this up if it hadn't been for your help. Even so, I'm still the better knight. You may have provided a good distraction, but you weren't the one who dealt damage to them.'

And with Sand Moth's attack power so high now, the Cole knew that the other three harpies were too weak as he sighed, "Fine, I guess that ends my turn," Darien shrugging and replying, "Oh well, we can just defeat that thing with Harpie's Pet Dragon next turn."

Izy folded her arms and remarked, "You probably will, but not before I deal some damage to you," Izy remarked before drawing her next talisman. And it seemed she had made the perfect draw as a grin formed on her face.

Catherine simply stared and thought, 'Don't forget it's all thanks to me that you'll be able to beat those sisters,' her mind then adding, 'But it might not be enough.'

However, Izy looked even more confident as she said, "You know, there's something really important that you forgot to do this turn, something that can really cost you this duel."

Darien blinked as Catherine asked, "There is?" Cole adding, "What did I forget to do?"

"Well, since you didn't do anything Harpie Lady One and Two, you easily could have flipped them to defence position before your turn was over," the brunette replied with a shrug as Darien slowly turned to his partner, his eyes and mouth wide open.

"OH NO!" Cole groaned as Catherine thought, 'She's right. He's left himself even more vulnerable now. I can't believe I didn't catch onto that. I'm so much more experienced.'

As Cole started to tremble, Darien said, "Whoa, calm down, buddy. It's fine. The most she can do is summon on demon and possibly destroy one of my harpies while leaving the other two alive. We'll still be able to finish them off next turn, especially with the pet dragon's attack being so high."

"That's what you think," Izy remarked as she held up two specific talismans, Catherine thinking, 'No, she can't possibly have them, can she?'

"I'm going to show you something my dad discovered," Izy stated with a serious look in her eyes, "I'll admit, you two have proven yourselves a real challenge, but now it's over."

"I don't like the sound of that," Darien uttered as Izy exclaimed, "First, I set the pendulum mages, Stargazer and Timegazer!" the brunette than placing their talismans next to the squares, one on each side of her gauntlet.

Both mages took form as a big pendulum appeared behind them, Cole asking, "What is that?" Gregory staring and uttering, "Is this a good thing?"

Catherine, all the while, gritted her teeth and thought, 'Dammit, she's upstaging me. This is nothing. It's just a way to summon more demons, that's it.'

"Now, with the power of my mages," Izy exclaimed, "I pendulum summon every demon in my hand!" the brunette slapping her four remaining talismans onto the squares.

"Pendulum summon?" Darien asked, "Any idea what that is?"

Cole shook his head as he noticed a big hole appear in the sky, four lights raining down from it and hitting the field. And sure enough, all four of Izy's remaining demons took form, all of which were Performapals.

One was her Whip Snake, of course, and another was the swordfish Celeste had destroyed during the initiation test. Naturally, his name was Performapal Sword Fish.

The third one to appear was a pink hippo with a top hat and a red, sleeveless shirt named Hip Hippo. When the demon appeared, though, he stood up on two legs and took off his top hat, giving a bow to the other knights. And the last was a frog dressed in a fancy suit, a polka dot bow tie and a top hat of his own named Turn Toad.

However, while Whip Snake and Hip Hippo were both in attack position, the other two were defending as they lacked power. However, Celeste was rather confused as Hip Hippo was quite weak as well.

"Can she do that?" Cole asked as Darien shrugged and replied, "Her gauntlet didn't blow up. I guess this is possible," Gregory starting to calm down a bit.

However, Cole and Darien were no longer shocked after a few seconds as Cole folded his arms and asked, "Well, that's interesting and all, but how does this make a lick of difference? Only one of your demons is powerful enough to defeat one of our harpies."

"That's where Performapal Sword Fish comes in," Izy remarked with a smirk as the fish tilted himself upward, conjuring up a wide array of swords and firing them into the air. They soon flipped over and descended toward the ground before piercing the feet of Cole and Darien's demons.

"See, once per turn, Sword Fish lowers the attack and defence of all of my opponents' demons by six hundred," Izy explained as Catherine looked truly astounded, "Because of this, Hip Hippo is now able to defeat one of your Harpie Ladies."

With that in mind, Whip Snake sprang high into the air and flipped himself vertically toward Harpie Lady Two. Meanwhile, Hip Hippo grinned and charged toward Harpie Lady Three. The snake struck the short-haired harpy with his tail as she fell to the ground, soon flying into Darien's deck. And soon enough, the hippo's skull was rammed into the spiky-haired harpy's gut, thus sending her into the graveyard.

And to add insult to injury, Whip Snake proceeded to strike Darien's armour with his tail while Hip Hippo did the same with his head. Both their attacks combined reduce the orange-haired knight and his bald companion's damage points to eighteen hundred.

'Oh my god,' Catherine thought with her eyes wide open, 'She's actually pulling off some really good moves,' Gregory all the while grinning while shouting, "Yeah, sock it to them!"

And of course, with both harpies destroyed, the pet dragon had lost six hundred attack points. However, he was still too powerful for Sand Moth to destroy, even with the additional loss of six hundred attack points from Sword Fish's power. As such, Izy did the more sensible thing and had Catherine's demon march attack the Harpie Lady Sisters.

The sand demon made his way over to the trio as they all trembled, their eyes wide as the demon lifted up his arm and sent it crashing down upon them. Soon enough, all three turned into flashes of light and flew into Cole's graveyard, the force of Sand Moth's attack emitting a shock wave that sent sand flying into the bald knight's armour.

Sure, this only brought their damage points down to seventeen hundred and fifty, but they had still lost their second most powerful demon while Harpie's Pet Dragon lost another three hundred attack points. And with that, Izy's turn came to a close as she took a deep breath and gave Catherine thumbs up.

The blond knight did feel a tad relieved, but at the same time, she still felt so annoyed by this. Granted, her demon had finished off the Harpie Lady Sisters, but this hardly mattered to her. The truth was that Izy had weakened Harpie's Pet Dragon significantly.

"Oh man, that really smarts," Darien groaned as Cole blinked and said, "Wait, we might still have a chance. Look."

The orange-haired knight saw what his partner meant when the Sword Fish's blades had vanished, Izy laughing nervously and uttering, "Oh, right, Sword Fish's power only works until the end of my turn."

With that, Harpie's Pet Dragon regained six hundred attack points as Cole smirked said, "Now you can finish off that sand thing," Darien nodding and saying, "I'll admit, that certainly caught me off-guard, but you'll need to do better than that."

With that in mind, Darien started his turn by placing a talisman on the middle square of his gauntlet. One talisman in his graveyard turned grey as a purple man in a whitish-green magician robe appeared. This man held a golden staff with a green crystal wing on the top while his hair matched the colour and appearance to a tee. This demon was known as Silpheed.

"You're not the only one with a demon who requires a dead one to be banished first," Darien said with a smirk as Catherine narrowed her eyelids, "And the first thing I'm gonna do is use my Silpheed to take care of that snake."

Izy bit her lower lip as the mage sent a burst of magic toward the cobra. Whip Snake, all the while, bounced toward the magician with his tail out as it clashed with the magic blast, said tail striking Silpheed in the face.

Since both demons were equal in power, their battle ended in a draw as both turned into flashes of light and flew into their respective owners' graveyards. And it did not end there as Harpie's Pet Dragon unleashed a burst of flames, covering Sand Moth in them as he ended up flying into Catherine's graveyard.

Catherine then took fire to her armour as her and Izy's damage points dropped to eleven hundred, the blond knight groaning as it was starting to seem hopeless again. And to add insult to injury, Harpie Channeler ended Darien's turn by hurling her bear trap toward Hip Hippo, clamping the pink demon's snout as he winced in pain. The demon then turned into a flash of light and flew into Izy's graveyard, the harpy then sending a blast of magic into Izy's armour and reducing her damage points to five hundred.

With that, it was now Catherine's turn as she drew her next talisman. However, she was unsure of what to do. Only one of the demons in her hand was strong enough to defeat Harpie's Pet Dragon, but she would need to use Izy's demons to bring it out. And she had no intention of doing that.

Izy noticed this and grinned, saying, "Hey, Catherine, I'm not the only one able to pendulum summon. Since it's a team duel, you can do it too."

Catherine gritted her teeth and thought, 'No, I refuse to rely on that,' but just as she was about to reach for a talisman to set, Izy put on a more serious look and barked, "Hold it!"

The blond knight turned toward the brunette while the men stared at her, Cole whispering, "What do you think that was about?" Darien shrugging and remarking, "No clue. Women are confusing."

"Do you mind!?" Catherine retorted as Izy shook her head and sighed, "It took me a while to figure it out, but deep down, you don't like the fact that I'm your partner."

Catherine was about to retort with a snide comment when the brunette added, "Throughout this whole thing, you've been trying to do everything yourself just to prove yourself better than me, is that right?"

The blond woman stared in shock, amazing that someone she used to think was dumb and rash was able to figure this out, Izy adding, "Look, Catherine, I have no doubt you might very well be better than me. I mean, you have lots of experience while I'm still kind of getting the hang of how my talismans work. I didn't even remember exactly how to make full use of my pendulums until recently."

The blond knight was confused as to where Izy was going until the brunette sighed, "I don't care whether or not I'm better than anyone. I became a knight so I could protect people, no so I could look good in front of others! I want to give people something more important to cheer about, to make a difference! I mean, do you even care about our client, Mr. Gregory!? Have you even noticed how much panic he's been in since this quest started!?"

Gregory's eyes widened as he uttered, "Well, it's true. This is all terrifying," Catherine turning to him with a look of concern while Izy sighed, "If we lose this duel, not only can we possibly lose our lives, but there's a chance our client will lose his life too. Are you really willing to risk that for your pride?"

After a few more seconds, Catherine took a deep breath and replied, "No, no I'm not," a light smile forming on her face as she said, "And you know what? I could really use that pendulum summoning of yours right now, so is it okay if I use it?"

"It would be an honour," Izy replied with a big smile, Darien sighing, "Are you two done yet?" Cole replying, "There's no use trying anyway. Our dragon is still too strong."

"That's what you think," Catherine remarked with a smirk as she held up three specific talismans, "I actually remember a little something Izy said regarding these two pendulum demons, and it's that as long as they're set, I can summon all demons in my hand between levels two and seven at once without the need for sacrifices."

With that, the woman proceeded to place two of the talismans she had held up onto her gauntlet, the magic pendulum swinging back and forth as both demons took form. One was a sphinx with the head of a parrot named Hieracosphinx and the other was a more traditional looking sphinx aptly named Guardian Sphinx.

However, before bringing out her last one, she turned to Izy and said, "Thanks for the boost, but for this last one, I won't need pendulum summoning. I hope that's okay."

"Go right ahead," the brunette replied with a cute grin as Izy placed the talisman onto a third square, two the talismans in her graveyard turning grey as she said, "By banishing all of the demons in my graveyard, I can now special summon the mighty Megarock Dragon!"

And thus a big dragon made entirely out of light-brown stones appeared with spiky rocks covering his forehead, Catherine explaining, "See, I can only summon this demon by removing rock based demons in my graveyard from play. By doing that, his attack and defence become equal to the number of demons I removed multiplied by seven hundred, giving him a total of fourteen hundred attack points!"

The dragon let out a loud roar as Izy nodded and said, "That's right, you already banished your statue thing, right?" Catherine nodding with a smile and replying, "You remembered," as the blond then adding, "Since his attack power isn't high enough to defeat that Harpie Channeler, though I figured I'd make use of that swordfish of yours. What do you say to that?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Izy replied with a nod of her head as Gregory smiled bright, Cole and Darien trembling for dear life as the swordfish unleashed his blades, once again reducing the attack of each enemy demon by six hundred.

The first thing Catherine did afterwards was have her Hieracosphinx soar toward Harpie's Pet Dragon, ramming his beak hard into the beast as he turned into light, flying into Cole's graveyard. Cole then took a hard blow to his armour as his and Darien's damage points dropped to eleven hundred.

Guardian Sphinx proceeded to raise his paw and bring it down upon Harpie Channeler, crushing her underneath as she soon joined the dragon. This caused sand to pelt Cole's armour again, the damage points now all the way down to two hundred.

"Come to think of it, the strength drop was pretty pointless, wasn't it?" Catherine asked as Izy shrugged and replied, "Yeah, but it felt satisfying, didn't it?"

"You know, it actually did," Catherine replied as Cole and Darien groaned, Cole sighing, "This is what we get for never putting traps in our decks, isn't it?"

Megarock Dragon then opened his mouth and released a big shock wave. This ended up striking the armour of both knights as they gritted their teeth, their damage points dropping to zero. As a result, both suits of armour came open and fell to the ground in a heap as both knight coughed up blood and fell on their backs, passing out.

Catherine then took a deep breath as Izy placed a hand on her shoulder. When Catherine saw her with big puppy dog eyes, she could tell that the brunette wanted to spare them. As such, she simply pulled out a set of handcuffs and latched each man's wrist to the other's.

All the while, Gregory's eyes widened as he grinned and shouted, "Wow, you two are the real deal! That was pretty scary, but you pulled through! Thank you so much!"

"It was m-" Catherine said before turning to Izy with a light smile and adding, "our pleasure."

And soon enough, Gregory did all of his shopping and returned home, feeling a lot less fidgety now that his assassins were to be sent to prison soon. And of course, the knights were both happy to have done their job.

As they walked back, Catherine sighed, "You know, I'm starting to see why the prince and commander like you so much," before smiling at Izy and adding, "I was wrong about you. I thought you were just some poser pretending to be a knight, but you're really commited. I'll even admit, considering what you had to work with and all that you did, you might very well be better than me."

"Hey, you did help me set up a lot of those moves," Izy replied as the blond knights grinned and replied, "Yeah, I guess we're all in this together. Still, I'm sorry I was so self-centred."

With all said and done, it seemed Izy had made yet another friend. And thus today was certainly successful, or at least for them anyway.


	18. Chapter 18

While Izy and Catherine's assignment had been successful, Eric and Will's mission had been about as uneventful as they figured it would be. As was expected, no invader had any interest in the church. And it was not long until the priest was finished with the day's sermons, so once he and everyone else had left for home, both knights were relieved of their duties.

On the way there, Eric turned to Will and said, "I look forward to seeing your skills. I never thought I'd face one of my allies so soon, honestly," the other man nodding with a fake grin and replying, "Yeah, imagine that."

As they returned, Izy and Catherine had not yet arrived as this took place during their duel. They simply told Celeste that everything had turned out fine while the commander nodded in understanding.

"Good job," Celeste replied, "I know guarding the church isn't much of a job, but it's still important."

Will was about to give a sarcastic remark when Eric gave an army salute and said, "Yes, ma'am. Perfectly understood," while the other man rolled his eyes and thought, 'Kiss-ass.'

Will simply had to end this dispute, even if Eric did not know there was one. He had to prove himself more worthy. After all, while Eric was as handsome as one would expect a prince to be, Will was just average. He had messy brown hair that almost always had little specks of dirt in it for whatever reason, a rather average build which was not fat but not really thin either. He was not unattractive, but he was far from the best the army had as far as appearance went. *

With all said and done, the two headed to the training facility. Since they were the first to finish their assignment and the others would likely take a lot longer, no one was here. It was perfect and quiet, just as Will wanted it to be.

"Well, you ready for this?" Eric asked as he readied his gauntlet, Will nodding and replying, "Yes. This will certainly be most intriguing."

With that, both knights faced one-another while distancing themselves enough for the duel to work, each man pressing his hand up against the gem on his gauntlet. The magic field appeared as Will wasted no time drawing his talismans, Eric saying, "Since you issued this challenge, I figure you may as well choose who goes first."

Will nodded and replied, "I will let you go first," Eric asking, "It's not because I'm royalty, is it?" Will shaking his head and saying, "Oh no, you said you didn't want people treating you differently, so I won't."

"Thank you," Eric replied with a grin as he set one talisman on the middle square of his gauntlet in defence position.

As the boulder appeared before him, the prince ended his turn as Will thought, 'That's it? Either his deck is pathetic or he has a bunch of useful talismans and has no clue how to use them.'

Whatever the case, Will wasted no time setting a talisman into one of his slots before placing another talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet. This brought forth a slender young woman with a pointy nose. Silver armour covered her arms but not the shoulders. She had more silver armour covering her torso, and over that was a blue samurai outfit, a long, curvy blade in her left hand. *

"Let's see you deal with my Future Samurai," Will said with a grin, "She's not all that powerful, but I'm sure he's strong enough to deal with whatever you have face-down."

Eric said nothing as the samurai charged toward his defending demon. And soon enough, the demon in question was revealed to be the same type of blue elven woman that Izy had used to summon Utopia for the first time. Her name was Mystic Elf and while her attack was weak, her defence was very high as a transparent sphere covered her body.

As such, Future Samurai's blade was unable to cut through the magic as she leapt back to her owner's side, a shock wave emanating from the sphere and striking Will's armour. The man grimaced as his damage points dropped to thirty-six hundred. Needless to say, this was already a bad start for him.

"Wow, I've never seen how a defending demon could deal damage before," Eric said with a grin, "That was pretty cool," Will thinking, 'So that was it. He knew that demon was strong enough to withstand most low level demons. I won't make that mistake again, though.'

As such, Will ended his turn as Eric drew a talisman and said, "That wasn't a bad effort, but let's see how you deal with this."

The prince proceeded to place another talisman next to his elf as a young man with long blond hair and light-green armour along with a cape appeared. This was Neo the Magic Swordsman and he was just powerful enough to defeat Future Samurai.

And with that, the swordsman held up his blade as magical energy surrounded it, the man charging toward Future Samurai and cutting her down the middle. The woman cried out in pain as she turned into light and flew into Will's graveyard, the man now scared as Neo struck his armour, dropping his damage points to thirty-five hundred.

"Wow, I didn't get I'd do so well," Eric said with a grin, "I look forward to seeing how you respond to this."

'You'll see soon enough,' Will thought as he activated the talisman he had set last turn. As such, a tablet appeared as Future Samurai returned to the field.

"What did you do?" Eric asked as Will grinned and replied, "I just activated Birthright, a trap that revives any demon in my graveyard that doesn't have a power. And while my Future Samurai actually does have a special power of her own, she's treated as a normal fighter when in the graveyard and when she's first summoned."

"Not bad," Eric replied as Will drew his next talisman and thought, 'This is a good start for him, but it's still nothing to be too proud of. Both these fighters are nothing special and he still doesn't seem to have drawn any spells. I can easily make up for this.'

As such, the man looked over his hand and grinned, saying, "Well, Eric, you've certainly proven yourself a strong adversary, but not quite strong enough."

With that in mind, the man proceeded to slap a talisman right on top of Future Samurai, shattering her talisman underneath as it reformed in his graveyard. A middle-aged man with long blond hair, a moustache and silver armour took her place, folding his arms and a proud smile on his face.

"This bad boy right here is Freed the Matchless General," Will explained with a grin, "His strength is already quite impressive for a fifth level fighter, but his power is truly amazing. See, any spell that targets him is negated and destroyed, meaning you can't effect him with simple magic."

"That's cool," Eric said with a grin, "Well, then, guess I'll be the one to take in damage this turn," Will thinking, 'If he knew this was more than a friendly sparring match, he'd realize how much trouble he's actually in. I'll prove it, I'll prove that I'm the one who deserves Izy's heart!'

With that, Freed rushed at Neo with a fist raised and planted it hard into the swordsman's face. This send him flying backward as he turned into light and flew into Eric's graveyard, the prince's armour taking in a punch itself. This brought Eric's damage points down to thirty-four hundred as Will took a deep breath, feeling quite good about himself now.

Will then ended his turn by setting another talisman into a slot and saying, "Well, go on, Eric. It's your move now."

Eric nodded and drew his next talisman, saying, "I have to admit, that certainly caught me off-guard, but I'm afraid the advantage is mine again."

With that, the prince placed a talisman over Mystical Elf, the same thing happening to her talisman as Future Samurai. In exchange, he had summoned another swordsman with long blond hair, only this man was taller and had blue and silver armour covering his upper body. With a sword in hand, this was Trance the Magic Swordsman.

'Figures he'd have both magic swordsman,' Will thought with his teeth gritted, 'But this certainly isn't good. Hopefully, my next draw will help me.'

And this was certainly needed as the man did have the making of a good move in his hand. He just needed one particular talisman to make it all work.

However, this thought would have to wait as Trance held aloft his sword, gathering magic around the blade just like Neo had. And with that, he charged at Freed and struck him hard in the chest, the general flying into Will's graveyard. After that, Will took a strike to his armour as his damage points dropped to thirty-two hundred, Eric taking a deep breath and saying, "This is fun."

'Yeah, for you,' Will thought while gritting his teeth, 'You're dominating me despite having not used a single spell or trap yet. How you've been able to pull that off is beyond me, but mark my words. It won't last.'

As he drew his next talisman, he was considering using the trap he had set the previous turn. However, he chose not to as his eyes widened. As it just so happened, he had drawn the right talisman, the one that would make things better for sure.

"Alright, you're in trouble now," Will said with a smirk as he placed a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet, bringing forth his Marauding Captain. Eric blinked and said, "Hey, I have that talisman too. He can special summon another fighter from the hand, right?"

"That's right, and I choose my Spell Striker," Will replied as he summoned the miniature viking, Eric nodding and saying, "Let me guess, you're going to summon a demon hero, right?"

'Dammit, was it that obvious?' Will thought before shaking his head and saying, "You bet, and this one's gonna knock your socks off!"

With that, both of his warriors changed into balls of light and fused together as he exclaimed, "And now, I overlay both of my fighters to bring out the mighty Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights!"

The tall soldier clad in white and blue armour appeared with a serious look in his eyes, Eric whistling and saying, "Impressive, but he's not quite as strong as Trance."

"True, he's a little on the weak side now," Will replied, "but watch what happens when I equip him with the last two talismans in my hand!" the man setting those very talismans into slots and tapping them.

As a result, a sword with a golden handle appeared in Artorigus' hand while an aura surrounded his body, his muscles expanding in size. While this happened, Will grinned and explained, "The first spell is called Divine Sword Phoenix Blade. If I equip this to a warrior, that fighter gains three hundred attack points."

Eric was truly impressed as Will added, "The second spell is called Big Bang Shot, and it's one of my personal favourites. Not only does it raise my warrior's attack by an addition four hundred, but it has an addition effect that I'd rather keep a secret for the time being."

"Sounds powerful," Eric said with a grin, "You're a really good fighter," Will nodding as he had Artorigus charge at Trance, slashing him down the middle and shattering his armour.

With that, the magic swordsman joined his weaker ally in the graveyard while Eric took in a strike to his armour. This brought his damage points down to thirty-three hundred as Will took a deep breath and thought, 'This is good, but I really need to start dealing more damage.'

And it seemed Will might get his chance as when Eric drew his next talisman, he had nothing to retaliate with. Sure, he had a strong demon in his hand but right now, he was unable to summon it. As such, he set a talisman into a slot and placed one in defence position on the middle square of his gauntlet, a boulder appearing before him.

"Well, you do have more than just demons in your deck after all," Will said as he drew his own talisman, adding, "It won't help you anyway," as Eric shrugged and replied, "I don't know. It might."

'Look at him, acting all calm and collective,' Will thought, 'Even though he's going to lose.'

And as he looked at his new talisman, he grinned and wasted no time placing it next to his Artorigus, a man dressed head to toe in red and orange armour taking form. This was Evocater Chevalier and needless to say, he was quite strong.

Eric whistled and said, "Not bad," as Will nodded and said, "Now to show you the second effect that Big Bang Shot grants its wielder."

Artorigus charged at Eric's defending demon and used his sword to slice the boulder down the middle. This revealed a green elephant with tusks made of red gemstone, the pachyderm sent to the graveyard. However, it did not end there as Artorigus send his blade forward, striking the prince's armour and bringing his damage points down to twenty-five hundred.

"Surprised?" Will asked with a smirk, "Big Bang Shot not only increased my knight's attack power but also gave him the ability to deal piercing damage. That means if he attacks a demon in defence position, he can still damage your armour. In short, you're lucky that demon of yours had a much higher defence than his attack otherwise that would have pulled more of a number on you."

Eric nodded and grinned, saying, "I have to admit, that is really something," as Will nodded and had his Chevalier strike the prince, bringing his damage points all the way down to six hundred.

All the while, Will had the biggest grin on his face as he thought, 'This is perfect. I'm going to win this duel. There's no doubt about it.'

He then remember his set trap as his mind added, 'I probably should have used that earlier, though. Then I could have finished him off right here and now.'

But when Eric drew his next talisman, he grinned and set another talisman into a slot. Since Will was so caught up in the moment, he did not think much of this as Eric placed a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet.

This brought forth his own Marauding Captain, but since it made no sense for both warriors to look the same, this one had a light scar under his chin and brown hair. Will blinked and thought, 'He wasn't kidding about that,' as the prince then used the captain's power to summon the skeleton of a mage dressed in a phantom mask and a red cape named Phantom Magician.

However, both of these fighters were incredibly weak as Will thought, 'Is that all he has,' his eyes widening as he spat, "Oh no, you're not going to summon a demon hero, are you!?"

"Actually, I don't have a level three demon hero," Eric replied with a shrug as Will thought, 'Well, now I'm even more confused.'

But as the prince ended his turn, Will drew his next talisman and thought, 'It doesn't matter anyway. I don't even need to use my trap. I've got him right where I want him.'

As he drew his next talisman, he noticed the demon in his hand was level eight, meaning he could only summon it if he sacrificed both of his fighters. However, with Eric down to six hundred damage points with two incredibly weak fighters to defend himself with, Will knew he would not need this.

As such, the man had Artorigus charge toward Marauding Captain as Eric grinned and said, "I hate to pull this on you, but this is a duel."

With that, he tapped the talisman he had set at the start of his last turn, Will's eyes widening as a big magical barrier appeared in front of Eric's fighters. This was the result of a trap known as Mirror Force, and Will knew full well that this was a horrible sign for him as a shock wave emitted from the barrier after Artorigus struck it.

The shock wave released a deadly sound as both Artorigus and Chevalier were sent to Will's graveyard. The man's jaw was dropped as he could not believe it. Eric had spent the entire duel up to this point using no spells or traps and when he finally used one, it was one of the most devastating traps in existence.

Eric grinned and said, "Tough break, pal. You almost had me," Will then shaking his head and thinking, 'No, he's wrong! As long as I use my trap, I can protect myself!'

And this seemed so as the man tapped the talisman he had set on the second turn, one known as Soul Resurrection. Eric nodded in understanding as Future Samurai returned to the field in defence position, and with a defence power of twelve hundred, she really was just strong enough not to be destroyed by Marauding Captain or Phantom Magician.

"Soul Resurrection is a lot like Birthright, only instead of attack position, I have to return the selected demon in defence position," Will explained as Eric nodded and said, "Not a bad tactic, but again, I hate to do this to you."

And as Eric drew his next talisman, he said, "Just to let you know, Trance isn't the most powerful fighter in my deck," Will's eyes widening as the prince sacrificed both of his fighters in exchange for purple demonic woman with a big golden crown atop her head.

The middle of the crown was shaped like a sword while the sides resembled shields. He also wore a shiny red robe, Eric saying, "This here is my strongest demon, Cosmo Queen."

Will shook his head and thought, 'No,' while Eric added, "Also, I happen to have a spell for piercing damage too," the man equipping the queen with a spell called Fairy Meteor Crush, a bright pink aura surrounding her.

"And just for the sake of dealing more damage, I guess I may as well use my other spell," Eric added as he activated the talisman he had set earlier, namely Ego Boost.

Will knew there was no way he could win now as the queen's power rose. She then formed a big magical sphere with her hands before hurling it into Future Samurai, the warrior crying out in pain as her body turned into a light and flew into Will's graveyard.

To add insult to injury, Cosmo Queen hurled another ball into the man's armour as his damage points dropped to five hundred, just a little bit lower than that of Eric. But while he was still standing, he knew it was over. There was nothing left he could possibly do at this point.

And as he drew his next talisman, Will let out a sigh and placed his hand against the gem on his gauntlet. After all, this was not a life-or-death duel. There was no point risking his health for the off-chance that he might end up surviving another turn.

As the magic field vanished, Eric walked over to Will and held out his hand, saying, "That was a really fun duel. You're really good."

"Yeah, but not as good as you," Will remarked with a sigh, Eric standing still for a few seconds before lowering his hand.

"I don't get it," Will uttered, "For the most part, you used nothing but demons and yet somehow, you managed to keep me at bay. Then you just pull out this big fast one with that trap and that spell. I didn't see it coming."

"Well, luck does play a small part in magic duels," Eric replied with a shrug while Will sighed, "Izy truly deserves someone like you."

The prince rose an eyebrow and asked, "Wait, this duel wasn't for fun at all, was it?" his eyelids narrowing a bit as Will remarked, "Yeah, you got me. The truth is, you're not the only one with feelings for Izy. Normally, I just chase after any girl I meet, but Izy's different. She's amazing, she has so much in common with me and she's so nice!"

"I know, right?" Eric asked with a nod of his head and a light smile, "And the way she doesn't feel the need to act proper no matter whose presence she's in really is something."

The prince then shook his head and asked, "Look, Will, do you really think beating me in a duel would be enough to win Izy's heart, especially since she didn't even see our duel?"

Will's eyes widened as Eric added, "Look, something my mom told me was that if I were to win the heart of my true love, I should get to know her more before admitting my feelings, a month at the very least. So that's what I'm doing. But you know what? Even if she refuses, I'll be okay with that because I don't wanna force something like this on someone so amazing, you know?"

Will nodded with his eyes wide open as he uttered, "I think I understand what you're saying," a light smile forming as he took hold of Eric's hand and shook it, the prince surprised that his words got through to the man so quickly.

"You're right," Will said with a grin, "Izy's not a prize, she's a person. And if she decides you're the one for her, well, it's not my place to object."

"Same here," Eric said with a grin, "But just so you know, I fully intend to confess at the end of the month," Will nodding and replying, "Well, best of luck."

Will then put on a more distraught look and asked, "You're not mad at me, are you?" Eric laughing and replying, "Well, I wish you'd told me about this sooner, but honestly, I just find it refreshing that my status didn't stop you from trying."

With that, both males laughed as a new friendship had been born. One could only wonder what would happen from here.

Notes: 1) Looking back, I probably should have written this long ago, mainly his first time appearing in the story.

2) Take this description with a grain of salt. For some reason, Future Samurai kinda looks like a woman to me, but for all I know, it could be a slightly feminine-looking male. With that design, it could be either one.


	19. Chapter 19

With everything done for the day, the knights happily enjoyed dinner while Will and Eric were seated next to each-other. Since the friction had died, they were both really enjoying each-other's company as they talked and laughed like they were old buddies or something.

Izy, all the while, was more than happy to see them getting along as Neil felt less awkward watching this. Now that he knew what kind of person Eric was, he felt like he could treat the prince like anyone else, or at least try. Though keeping his secret bottled up was proving a tad difficult.

"So then, after she knocked me down," Will said with a grin, "I saw right up her skirt," Eric laughing and replying, "Nice!" the two sharing a high-five while Izy tensed up, Taylor chuckling and replying, "I have to say, Will, it takes a lot of balls to talk about something like that around women."

She then narrowed her eyelids and added, "But seriously, if you try anything like that to us, I can't promise your well-being," Neil's eyes widening as he whimpered, "Taylor, you're scaring me."

The black-haired woman gasped and pinched both of Neil's cheeks, cooing, "I'm sorry. I was just sticking up for what's right," Will laughing nervously and replying, "In all fairness, I probably shouldn't be talking about this stuff."

Eric simply chuckled and said, "Honestly, it's just nice that none of you are acting formal around me. I just wish everyone else in the cafeteria understood my request as much as you guys have."

He and Izy both looked over the area to notice every other knight staring at Will with even more envy than they had for Izy. Sure, Izy spending time with Eric was one thing, but even she never came across as anywhere near this buddy-buddy with him. And if they knew what Will had tried earlier that day, they would have resented him even more.

"You think we should distance him from Will?" one of them whispered, "He could be a bad influence," another knight replying, "No way. Eric would never stop being a gentleman. He's just giving them attention out of pity."

"I hate to break it to you, but I've just found out that Eric isn't the kind to fake friendship," Catherine, who was close enough to hear them, replied, "As a matter of fact, I can see why he and the commander like Izy so much. She's not such a bad person."

"But didn't you hate her yesterday?" another knight replied as the blond woman sighed, "Well, that was before I got to know her."

She then gave the brunette a wave as said woman waved back with a big smile before saying, "It's a shame Celeste can't join us. She'd love to hear these conversations."

Will's eyes widened as he uttered, "Maybe it's for the best she didn't sit with me, er, us," Taylor chuckling and replying, "Good point. She might take your perverted tendencies worse than I do," the black-haired woman giving him a cold stare combined with a smile, which no one thought could be possible until now.

However, while Eric was having a lot of good fortune, Victoria was another case. Unlike the prince, everyone in Rose Kingdom struggled to treat the princess like anything other than the heir to the throne. A part of her wished Clement could at least eat with her and provide her company, though deep down, she knew he would make for incredibly boring company.

Victoria looked around and thought, 'Come on, won't someone sit with me? I'd ask someone, but then they'd just do it because I wanted them to do it.'

She then looked at her soup and smirked, her mind adding, 'I know. If I eat like a slob, they might just realize I'm not a spoiled brat who needs to be treated special all the time.'

With that in mind, the princess picked up her bowl and started gulping down her soup at an alarming rate. As expected, all the knights in the area stared at her as she wiped her mouth and let out a light belch. Sure, it was not as loud as what a lot of the other members of the army could muster, but she had a feeling that would show how much like the other knights she could be.

However, when she turned to face them, she was beyond annoyed when everyone turned away and pretending not to have seen that. She could tell they were scared of what might happen if they acknowledged any of that as she slammed her head against the table.

All this managed to do was get the attention of one nearby knight who asked, "Is your royal skull okay?" Victoria resisting the urge to scream in frustration.

After dinner, the princess was wandering the halls when suddenly, the entrance to the castle came open. Victoria's eyes widened as the sight of a buff knight with sideburns covered in burn marks while breathing heavily.

"Oh my god, Sir Adam!" the princess gasped as she ran over, the man slowly looking up and asking, "That you, Princess?"

"Who did this to you?" she asked with a terror in her expression only for the male knight to lose consciousness and pass out.

The princess took a deep breath and called for help. And soon enough, the guards arrived to help carrying the unconscious knight to the hospital wing. Sure, he may not have been dead, but his injuries were quite severe.

And this got the attention of Clement who raced into the hospital wing once Adam was resting. Luckily, the knight had regained consciousness as his commander frowned and asked, "Was it the man in the cloak?"

"Yes," Adam groaned as Victoria frowned, the man adding, "Just as I was about to get the rare talisman, he showed up out of nowhere and challenged me for it. I thought for sure I could take him."

The princess gritted her teeth when Clement noticed this and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Of course not!" Victoria retorted, "How can I be okay when this keeps happening! As if it's not enough that a good number of our soldiers have likely been arrested by Duel Kingdom, our top-ranked knights are being struck down by this pest who's most likely working for them! Something needs to be done about this!"

"I agree, and we're doing the best we can," the commander remarked only for the princess to poke his nose while barking, "Well, I don't think this kingdom is trying hard enough! Clement, I ask that you let me go to Duel Kingdom and try to bring them down from the inside!"

"Bring them down?" Clement asked as the princess nodded and stated, "Yes, I'm going to break into their castle and capture the king as a hostage. I will only return him if they surrender. That way the war can end and no one has to get hurt anymore."

"That's insane!" Clement remarked with his eyes wide open, "I'm sorry, but I simply can't ask you to do that. What would your father say?" Victoria remarking, "He said I was ready for this!"

"No, he said you were ready for knighthood, not what may as well be a suicide quest!" Clement exclaimed as the princess puffed up her cheeks in anger.

However, it seemed her mean look had little effect on the commander as he exited the area saying, "It's almost time for bed. You'd better get ready for that," the princess making mocking lip movements and thinking, 'I'll show him and Father. I'm ready for this.'

She knew it would be impossible to sneak out just yet, though, and it would be best to at least build up some energy first. As such, she decided to call it an early night, figuring that if she did so, she would wake up at least an hour before everyone else did. That would give her ample time to sneak out of the castle and make her way to Duel Kingdom.

Though since it was still an hour away from the scheduled bedtime, everyone in Duel Kingdom was still up as Izy and the others were standing next to the pond outside. Izy, meanwhile, was dipping each of her talismans individually into the water while Will and Eric both rose an eyebrow.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Eric asked as Izy grinned and replied, "Well, I like to keep my talismans nice and shiny, so I'm cleaning them. Though since ponds aren't the most clean things ever, I use my finger to move anything dirty to the side."

And she demonstrated this by sticking her pointing finger into the water and twirling it around. This caused the algae on top to move away from that particular spot, leaving a nice clean circle of water where Izy could dip her talismans, the woman putting extreme care into Performapal Whip Snake.

"I don't believe I've ever seen anyone do that before," Will said with a shrug, Neil nodding and asking, "Does it help make them stronger?"

"No," Izy replied, "but over the years, I've started to consider my demons to be family. Granted, if they were free from their talismans, they'd probably attack me, but as long as they're under my control and I continue to use them for dangerous combat, I figure I may as well treat them like family members."

Taylor chuckled and replied, "You know, I sometimes think of my amazons are family, too. Sure, they were originally killers and that's they've been sealed up, but they're still people."

Neil had never thought about that before, except for his Grenosaurus only because that demon had chosen him as his owner. He always hoped to one day use the dinosaur to show how much he appreciated the gesture.

"You know, I guess I wouldn't be where I am without my warriors," Will said as Eric added, "Same here. I've only used them twice, but they've proven to be very helpful."

As such, the others decided to join her as Will asked, "So when's Celeste supposed to be here?" only to panic when a familiar voice said, "Sorry I'm late. Cedric and Linda came back early to give me a report of their mission. Turns out it took them shorter than expected."

Celeste had indeed arrived and was carrying a rather big bag over her shoulder. What was in it was anyone's guess.

"Well, that's good news," Eric replied with a grin as Will gulped, Celeste blinking and saying, "Oh, he's in our group now."

The man grinned nervously as Taylor ruffled his hair, smiling sweetly at Celeste and replying, "Oh, don't worry, ma'am. We'll keep him under control," Izy giving an army salute and adding, "You can count on us."

Will let down light tears, thinking, 'I wasn't gonna do anything, though.'

Neil, meanwhile, was beyond nervous. As if being friends with a prince was not hard enough to believe, now he was friends with his boss. He just had this feeling that he could end up being punished if he did not watch his mouth around her.

While Taylor noticed this and pinched his cheek, Celeste set down her bag and said, "Anyway, you're all probably wondering why I told you all to meet me here."

"I just figured it was to admire the pond," Eric replied with a shrug, "It does look rather nice at night."

"That's true, but you can do that anytime," Celeste stated, "Anyway, I chose this spot because I'd like you all to join me in a favourite past time of mine."

The others looked excited until the commander opened up her bag and pulled out a set of fishing rods, saying, "Sorry, but I only have five with me. I didn't know our group had a sixth member," Will, Eric and Izy thinking, 'Oh, goody. Fishing.'

However, Taylor looked absolutely thrilled as Neil simply smiled lightly and said, "I love fishing."

The black-haired woman turned to him with her eyes wide open and gasped, "How come you never told me before!? I would have taught you how to fish my way!"

Neil was unsure of how to answer her question as Will asked, "Your way?"

Taylor nodded and replied, "That's right. Since I was raised by wolves, I was taught how to hunt like them. It's a shame I can't use those skills in the forest, but now I have a chance to show off."

"Wait, wolves can fish?" Izy asked, tilting her head to the side as Taylor nodded and said, "Watch this."

Celeste looked beyond intrigued as Taylor removed her armour and undergarments, Neil's eyes and mouth wide open as a bit of blood ran from his nostrils. However, he quickly placed his hands over his nose as the black-haired woman got down on all fours and sprinted into the pond.

The others watched in amazement as a fish spotted her and tried to swim for its life. However, Taylor proved way too fast as she soon reached it, scooping it up in her mouth before turning around and running back to shore.

"Wow," Neil uttered, his hands lowered as Will noticed the blood and nudged Eric, whispering, "I think someone just hit puberty," the prince snickering, "Hey, that's mean."

Taylor shook the water off of herself just like a wolf would and said, "As you can see, I don't need a fishing rod, so all six of us can fish to our heart's content."

Will then groaned, thinking, 'Dammit, I was hoping I could just watch,' Eric and Izy shrugging their shoulders. If their new friend wanted to fish, then that was what they were going to do.

Neil, all the while, continued to stare at Taylor as he groaned, "Can you please put your clothes back on?" the blond all the while focusing on his chest while thinking, 'How does it not hurt for her to wear armour over those?'

Taylor blinked and pouted as she whimpered, "I'm sorry, Neil. I didn't realize I was making you uncomfortable," the black-haired woman then putting her undergarments back on and adding, "That's okay. It felt good enough just to catch one fish again."

And for the next hour, the others fished using the more traditional method. Celeste and Neil had actually managed to catch quite a few while Eric, Will and Izy were praying for at least one bite. At least then this would be slightly less boring for them.

However, the trio had no luck as bedtime came around, Celeste sighing, "Thanks for putting up with that," Izy, Will and Eric staring at her as she added, "If you refused, I would have been okay, but it means a lot that you tolerated that."

"It was no problem," Izy replied with a cute grin, "It's what friends do, right?" Eric adding, "Besides, what else is there to do around here except train?"

With all said and done, it was time for bed as the knights were all happy with how the day had gone. New friendships had been formed, lives had been saved and downtime was well spent. Needless to say, today was a success.

Victoria, all the while, was dreaming about how great it would be to return to her kingdom with Henry in her grasp. She even knew exactly how she would get into Duel Kingdom undetected.

However, during the night, a certain cloaked figure was sleeping in a cave located between each town. He let out a sigh and removed his hood, revealing himself to be a man with long brown hair and blue eyes. He had a big bushy beard and a face that made him look younger than he actually was.

As he held up the day's find, he grinned and said, "Well, I'm making progress. Soon enough, the war will come to an end and we'll run this world. After all, it's better off in our hands, isn't it, daughter?"

The man then let out a big laugh and sighed, "Of course, I should probably introduce myself to you first. You don't even know I exist, do you? But someday, when I have the means necessary, it'll happen."

The following morning, Victoria woke up just as early as she had planned to. She looked around just to make sure everyone was sound asleep and grinned, thinking, 'Perfect.'

With that, the princess got up and remembered that she did not have to put on any armour. All she needed was a satchel with her gauntlet and a good pair of clothes. As such, she slowly and quietly put on a top and pants.

'Well, it's not your standard princess getup, but it's not bad,' she thought as she slowly made her way toward the door. And once she got there, she opened it just as slowly as she had walked and once outside, closed it as softly as possible.

The pink-haired woman then breathed a sigh of relief before sprinting away from the barrack. Luckily, getting to Duel Kingdom did not take too long and as such, she figured she would be able to make it without any major trouble.

'Well, this is it,' the princess thought with a sigh, 'I've never been in this forest before, but I've studied more than enough maps to know where I'm headed.'

With that in mind, the princess placed her gauntlet on and tapped her hand against the gem, bringing up the magic field. Since there was no one in front of her, the rules of magic duels did not apply as she simply pulled out one particular talisman and placed it on the middle square of her gauntlet.

A demon made entirely out of blue flames and clad in purple armour appeared. His name was Spirit of the Six Samurai, and while he would not be all too useful during a duel, pretty much any demon was powerful when compared to humans and forest creatures. As such, Victoria would be well protected against any and all wildlife with the spirit next to her. As a matter of fact, this was how every knight would travel through the forest safely as it would save the king the trouble of having to buy horses.

"Well, Spirit, what do you think of my plan?" Victoria asked with a grin, "I just know that by the time I get to the kingdom, the knights there will have already been sent on their respective assignments. As such, the castle will be mostly empty, thus giving me ample time to sneak in and snatch the king."

The spirit simply turned toward her without saying anything as the princess remarked, "Oh, what do you know? You're just a demon."

However, while passing by a small pond, she could have sworn she noticed a man dressed in a cloak nearby in the corner of her eye. But when she turned to confirm her suspicions, there was no one there as she shook her head, thinking, 'No, I have to focus on this task.'

Sure enough, it was not long until everyone in Rose Kingdom was up, Clement instantly noticing Victoria's absence. However, he figured she must have been wandering the castle. After all, she had gone to sleep early, therefor it only stood to reason that she would wake up early too.

However, he could not help but feel alarmed when he asked around the castle if anyone had seen her only to draw a blank. Just as he had feared, no one had actually seen Victoria enter or leave the castle, not even the servants despite them all having to wake up an hour and a half before everyone else.

"Oh no, she wouldn't," the commander groaned when Richard entered the area, saying, "Excuse me, Clement, about a half-hour ago, Caroline told me you've been looking around for my daughter."

Clement slowly turned and trembled, his teeth chattering as the king had a look of fear in his eyes, adding, "From what I've heard, no one has seen her. I've had people search through the castle outskirts and even ask through town, but she seems to have disappeared."

"Oh, god, why didn't I see this coming!?" Clement whined before clasping his hands over his mouth, his eyes widening as Richard asked, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Clement let out a sigh and told the man of her plan, groaning, "I didn't think she'd actually be crazy enough to do it!" the king's eyes widening as he nodded and said, "Alright, send five fastest knights with really fast demons to Duel Kingdom so they can bring her back. She probably left a couple of hours ago, so with the right amount of speed, we might be able to catch her in time."

However, even with speed on his side, would that really be enough? And did Victoria have what it took to succeed or was this really a suicide mission?


	20. Chapter 20

In order to avoid widespread panic throughout the kingdom Clement picked five separate knights to race off in search of Victoria but also told them to keep their task a secret from the public. The five he chose all had at least one fast demon that they could ride to Duel Kingdom, so at the very least, it would take them only a third of the time it would take most people to get there.

Unfortunately for them, Victoria figured they would come after her and thus had her Spirit of the Six Samurai carrying her on his back while running at a relatively fast pace. The nice thing about demons was that even without the gauntlets controlling them, they had unlimited energy, so it was possible for a demon to move so quickly. As for how the princess avoided being burned, she simply held onto his armour while making sure not to touch the blue flames that made up his body.

Once she arrived the woman had a light smile on her face as she said, "Thanks, Spirit," before tapping the gem on her gauntlet and removing the magic field along with her demon. And thus to avoid detection, she removed her gauntlet and placed it into her satchel.

'Hopefully these clothes will disguise me well enough,' Victoria thought, 'After all, I think the members of the royal family are the only ones who have ever seen me and know what I look like.'

And with that, she took a deep breath and made her way into town, staying hidden until she came to an area with no one in it. As long as she emerged from an empty area going on a stroll, she knew no one would be able to recognize her.

While this was happening, Celeste was in the middle of giving out everyone's assignments, the commander saying, "Izy, I want you and Will to guard the orphanage today. Not sure why anyone from Rose Kingdom would care about that place, but you never know."

"Yes, ma'am!" Izy replied with an army salute as Will nodded, no longer able to take Celeste as seriously as he used to, especially now that he knew how laid-back she could be. Even so, orders were orders, and he would be with Izy for this one, so he would still gladly go along with this.

Eric then gave an army salute and asked, "Anything for me, ma'am?" Celeste looking over the list and replying, "Oh god, this isn't good. I think I gave your assignment to Edmond."

"That's fine," the prince replied with a shrug, "Guess I'll just stick around and guard the castle. So far, that's the one thing I haven't done."

Celeste nodded with a grin and replied, "Yeah, maybe Izy can do that tomorrow while you get an assignment," the prince nodding and asking, "So, what exactly do I do when I'm not off protecting people?"

"Well," Celeste replied, "my recommendation is usually to get in some training with the others, but if you want, you can guard the halls. After all, you never know when someone could break into the castle, right?" Eric nodding and giving an army salute before replying, "You can count on me, ma'am!"

Celeste laughed and exclaimed, "I know you're on duty, but you don't need to be so formal all the time!" some of the other knights without assignments staring in confusion as one whispered, "Wow, Celeste really can be friendly."

Meanwhile, Izy and Will were headed to their assigned location and having simple smalltalk when a certain pink-haired woman bumped her elbow up against Izy's. The girl winced in pain and held onto her shoulder. After all, armour was made from a very hard substance, so naturally bumping into it really hurt.

"Oh my god, are you okay!?" Izy gasped after turning toward the pink-haired woman, who was obviously Victoria, and squeaking, "I'm so sorry!" Will equally concerned.

The woman simply turned to her and gave her a fake smile, uttering, "No, no, it's okay. I should have watched where I was going," all the while thinking, 'Though you should have watching, too. Isn't it your job to keep the innocent safe?'

Will, meanwhile, stared wide-eyed and thought, 'She's pretty,' before shaking his head, his mind adding, 'No, you're no longer going down that road! From now on, genuine feelings only!'

"Anyway, you should carry on with your own business," Victoria uttered as Izy nodded and replied, "Well, as long as you're okay. After all, you're just as important to us as any other citizen."

The pink-haired woman blinked and thought, 'Well, at least their knights are as noble as ours,' before nodding and saying, "Thank you for your concern, but I simply must be on my way and, again, you have work to do as well."

Izy and Will shrugged their shoulders and gave the woman a light wave before carrying on with their business. All the while, Victoria let out a sigh and thought, 'That was mildly annoying, but at least I was right. No one here seems to know what I look like.'

Meanwhile, Neil and Taylor were off on a simple errand. All they had to do was protect a paranoid old man on his way to the market. And Neil was glad that this was a mostly risk-free job as his mind was currently focused on something other than his skills as a knight.

Up until last night, he had never seen Taylor without her armour on, and as if that was not enough, he had what many men would call a privilege, the sight of her without any clothes on at all. In fact, his dreams last night had been all about her in the nude. She was not doing anything provocative, but she was naked throughout the entire dream.

And after seeing how big they were, he wanted to ask the black-haired woman if it hurt to wear armour over her chest. However, he chose to refrain from such a question as he knew that would be going too far. And to think that supposedly in a month from now, he would see her without armour on a regular basis, though at least she would still be clothed.

Taylor noticed the blond knight biting his lip and looked with concern, asking, "Is there something wrong?" Neil shaking his head and replying, "No, nothing's wrong," laughing nervously and fibbing, "I'm just thinking that maybe after our job, we could get some extra training in."

"But of course," Taylor replied with a wide grin, "You know I love training with you."

During this time, Victoria was near the bridge leading to the castle, two guards standing in front. She then tapped her chin and thought, 'Maybe if I just tell them I'm the princess and that I've come a negotiate a peace treaty, they might actually let me through,' the princess shaking her head as her mind added, 'But then any knights guarding the castle will know I'm there and will be poised to attack if I go back on my word!'

With that in mind, she thought hard about how she could possibly get in without the guards spotting her. Sure, she could challenge them to a duel and was certain she could win, but the magic from her gauntlet would need a day to recharge any damage points she lost. As such, it was for the best that she stay hidden and avoid duelling anyone.

Sure, she could lie and say she came for the initiation test, but not only was she unsure of whether or not it worked the same here as it did in Rose Kingdom, but if it did, then she would have to be escorted to the training facility for a duel. And that was something she could not risk.

She then figured something out as she smirked and thought, 'That's right. Who says I have to be seen to enter?'

With this in mind, the princess walked over to the guardrail next to the bridge entrance and took a deep breath, thinking, 'That's right, I gave up extreme cleanliness when I became a knight.'

She then placed a firm grip on the railing, looking around to make sure no one could see her. When she noticed there was no attention on her, she flipped herself over the rail and dove into the water, swimming toward the castle.

One of the guards blinked and asked, "Hey, did you hear something?" the other shrugging his shoulders.

Soon enough, Victoria had reached a wall of dirt leading up to the castle as she took a deep breath. It was just as she had thought earlier. Cleanliness no longer mattered now that she was a knight, and as such, she wasted no time digging her nails into the side of the dirt and climbing up the wall.

After roughly a minute, she made it to the top and noticed a tree right next to a window. This could not have been more perfect if she had planned it this way and as such, she wasted no time climbing up the big plant, entering the castle through said window.

But as she entered, she noticed a maid dusting a statue. The princess bit her lip and quickly sprinted out of the area before the woman could spot her, and sure enough, she had managed to exit before that could happen.

However, it seemed security was a bit tighter than expected as a couple of knights were wandering the halls. Seeing this, Victoria quickly dashed behind a vase, taking a deep breath as the other knights failed to notice her.

'So not everyone is busy at the same time here,' Victoria thought, 'Everyone in Rose Kingdom gets an assignment. How many soldiers do they have?'

Luckily, though, the number of knights still in the castle were slim and most were in the training facility anyway. As such, Victoria was able to avoid detection, even sneaking past the various servants who were too caught up in their own tasks to notice.

And soon enough, she had made her way to a room covered by red double doors with a golden rim. There was no doubt that this had to be the throne room. As such, the princess was one step closer to her goal.

However, she remembered that her father was not always in the throne room during the day and as such, she pressed her ear up against the door to hear for his voice. And as it so happened, Esmeralda and Henry were in the room having a conversation at this very moment.

"I've heard Eric's been doing a good job so far," Esmeralda said with a light smile, Henry nodding as the queen added, "Bet you're glad you decided to let him be a knight after all."

"Maybe," the king replied with a shrug, "but then again, I've heard his assignments so far have been really easy," the queen remarking, "Not his first assignment. I heard he had to face on two opponents at once after a certain someone didn't take the time to teach him about those."

'So Eric got similar treatment to me, did me?' Victoria thought, 'Never thought of Henry as the overprotective type. But then again, I met him when I was five, so how accurate could my memory of that day be?'

Even so, the princess shook her head and thought, 'Focus!' before pulling her gauntlet out of her satchel. She then placed it over her hand before opening the door with a serious look in her eyes, closing it behind her and barking, "Alright, don't move!"

Henry and Esmeralda ended their conversation and stared wide-eyed, the king tilting his head to the side and asking, "You look familiar. Have we met?"

"Yes," the princess retorted with a scowl, "I was a lot younger back then, but you should at least remember my name!" Esmeralda gasping, "Are you Princess Victoria!?"

"You mean from the Rose Kingdom?" Henry asked, "Whatever brings you here?" the princess reaching for the gem on her gauntlet as she retorted, "I'm here to capture you and bring you back to Rose Kingdom! Don't even bother putting up a struggle!"

Now the king and queen were truly frightened, even Esmeralda. They did not even bother to question how the princess had made her way past the guards. All they knew was that there was no one nearby to dispose of her and it also did not help that Eric had their talismans, so it was not as if either one could fight back even if they wanted to.

'This is perfect,' Victoria thought with a smirk, 'With the door closed, no one can hear us without getting real close, and I doubt anyone would have a reason to do that. I'll just march out of the castle with Henry trapped in a magic field, and if anyone dares to attack me, I'll just threaten to take his life.'

However, it seemed her plan might just fail as at that very moment, the double doors came open. The princess slowly turned to see Eric standing there saying, "Hey, I'm feeling a tad bored right-" his eyes widening as he started in shock.

It took Victoria and Eric a little while to recognize each-other, but when each one saw the other's eyes, all became clear as Eric asked, "Victoria?"

"You still remember me, Eric?" the princess asked as the prince replied, "I should say the same thing. I mean, wow, it's been, what, ten years since we met each-other?"

"Actually, it's been fourteen," Victoria replied, Henry whistling as he whispered, "That's an impressive memory considering she was five at the time," Esmeralda replying, "I'm a little surprised you remember it."

"But why are you here?" Eric asked, "You know our kingdoms aren't exactly on good terms, right?"

"That's exactly why I'm here!" Victoria retorted with a frown before bringing her armour out of her gauntlet, "I'm going to use your father as a hostage to win us this war and you can't stop me!" Henry gasping, "That's what this is for!? My god, that's-" the man shrugging and adding, "Quite brilliant, actually. I wonder if we should send someone to do that."

"You won't get that chance, because I'll beat Eric in a duel and claim this victory!" Victoria exclaimed with a frown, "Then he'll see just how great of a knight I really am!"

"So your father was against you being a knight, too?" Eric asked as the princess nodded and replied, "Yes, but that's not important right now."

The prince put on a more serious look and said, "That's right," as royal figures pressed the gems on their gauntlets and brought up the magic field, Eric exclaiming, "Don't worry, Dad! I'll save you!"

Victoria took a deep breath and retorted, "I'll have you know I'm a lot better than I look," before drawing five talismans, Eric drawing five of his own and adding, "Same here! I have nothing against you, but I won't let you hold my dad up for ransom!"

With all said and done, Victoria took a deep breath and asked, "So, which of us should go first?" Eric replying, "Well, you challenged the kingdom, so I only feel it fair to let you decide that."

'Oh, right, I forgot that's how it works,' the princess thought as she nodded and said, "In that case, I shall make the first move."

Victoria reached for her deck when Eric asked, "You know you can't draw if you go first, right?" the princess gasping as she thought, 'Right. That's a very important step. How could I forget?'

With that in mind, the woman simply looked over her current hand and nodded, saying, "In that case, I'll start this off with a spell."

The princess then inserted a talisman into a slot before tapping it, a good number of talismans floating in front of her as she explained, "Thanks to the effect of Reinforcement of the army, I can add a warrior to my hand as long as its level is below five."

As such, the pink-haired woman picked out one specific talisman and added it to her hand, the others returning to her deck as the magic of the gem shuffled the remaining talismans. She then proceeded to set another talisman into a slot before smirking and saying, "You're going to love what I have in store for you."

The woman then proceeded to place a talisman face-down and sideways on the middle square of her gauntlet, a boulder appearing before her as she smirked and ended her turn. Sure, it may not have seemed like much, but she had a lot planned just from the three remaining talismans in her hand.

Eric drew himself a sixth talisman and said, "Like me, I don't expect you to take me lightly. I've just started all of this too, but I have a good grasp on what talismans are best for each situation."

Victoria narrowed her eyelids as the prince placed two talismans into slots next to each-other. He then proceeded to place another onto the middle square of his gauntlet as a pegasus covered head to toe in white and gold armour appeared. Her wings were also made of armour and she went under the name ZW Unicorn Spear.

'That's a powerful demon,' Victoria thought as she bit her lower lip, Unicorn Spear flying toward the defending demon and piercing the boulder with her horn. The stone was soon covered in cracks as it crumbled into small fragments, revealing a monkey dressed in samurai gear and holding a spear, the unicorn's horn having been driven into his chest.

He let out a loud shriek as he flew into Victoria's graveyard, the princess smirking and saying, "Nice move, but I'm afraid you haven't left me open just yet."

Eric's eyes widened when the monkey was replaced by her Spirit of the Six Samurai. Sure, he was weak, but she had big plans for him as Eric was curious as to what had just happened.

"Oh, I see," Esmeralda said with a nod, "Shien's Foot Soldier can be replaced by a demon with six samurai in the name after being destroyed as a result of battle, though the level must be three or lower."

'Doesn't seem like much of a replacement,' Eric thought as his turn came to a close, Victoria smirking and saying, "You'd better be prepared, because I'm just getting started," the princess drawing another talisman.

A smirk formed on her face as she said, "Oh, this just got even better," the woman placing a talisman on a square next to her spirit. This allowed her to summon a man dressed in brown samurai armour and a katana in each hand. He also had two mechanical arms on his back to hold two extra swords, Victoria saying, "This here is Legendary Six Samurai Kageki!"

Eric blinked and asked, "How's that supposed to help?" the prince noticing this man had very low attack power, Esmeralda replying, "Unfortunately, son, this one can help her a lot."

"That's right," Victoria replied with a grin, "When Kageki is summoned normally, I can use his special power to special summon another Six Samurai from my hand at level four or lower, and I choose Hand of the Six Samurai."

Eric's eyes widened as a woman dressed in a purple robe over a white cloak appeared. The woman held a small blade in hand as Kageki let out a loud battle cry and flexed his muscles, said parts expanding in size.

"What just happened?" Eric asked as Victoria replied, "As long as I control another Six Samurai warrior, Kageki's attack power rises by fifteen hundred. Though considering I already had another one out, I didn't really need Hand of Six Samurai for that."

"I'm guessing there's a reason you chose to summon her, then," Eric remarked with a frown as the princess nodded and explained, "It's because my spirit isn't going to last much longer on the field due to his own special power."

"Oh my, I know what that is," Henry uttered, "Son, you'd better be careful."

And it seemed so as the blue flame vanished, the armour floating over to Kageki and latching itself onto him. The warrior then let out a loud battle cry as a blue aura surrounded him, Victoria explaining, "See, as long as I control another Six Samurai, I can equip Spirit of the Six Samurai to that fighter. And, naturally, said warrior gains his attack and defence, both of which are five hundred. In other words, Kageki is now more than strong enough to defeat your unicorn."

But just as the warrior readied all four of his blades to attack, Eric activated one of the talismans he had set last turn. As a result, a barrier formed in front of Unicorn Spear as he stated, "I activate the trap, Impenetrable Attack! With this trap, I can protect any demon of my choosing from being destroyed by battle or talisman effects, and as you can see, I only have one choice to go with."

Henry could not help but applaud his son as he exclaimed, "Good show, my boy!" Esmeralda nodding and saying, "I have to say, that was certainly good planning."

With that in mind, Victoria frowned and ended her turn. So far, it seemed the two were even. Could Eric turn do more than just protect himself from a strong attack or did Victoria have more tricks up her sleeve?


	21. Chapter 21

Note: Card of Sanctity will be used in this, but I'm going to use the anime's rules for how it works. Just thought you guys should know in advance. And if I ever decide to have Spellbinding Circle in this fic, it'll be the same case.

It seemed Eric had saved himself from taking in damage as he drew his next talisman. However, he would certainly need to turn things around if he was to win this duel. After all, Kageki was strong enough to defeat all of his level four demons. But luckily, he already knew a way around this."

"First, I activate the spell, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set talisman!" the prince exclaimed as he placed the talisman for said spell into a slot and tapped it.

Victoria gritted her teeth as she thought, 'No, I was planning to use that,' while Eric placed a talisman on the square next to his Unicorn Spear. This allowed him to summon his Gogogo Golem, the rock giant standing tall and proud.

Henry nodded and said, "Certainly a powerful demon," as Victoria sighed, "Powerful or not, I fail to see how this is supposed to deal with my own soldiers."

"Then clearly your don't understand your samurais as well as you claim," Eric remarked with a smirk as he had his unicorn fly into Hand of the Six Samurai, piercing his chest as she winced and flew into the princess' graveyard.

The unicorn then proceeded to strike Victoria's armour as her damage points dropped to thirty-seven hundred. However, the princess looked unimpressed as she asked, "So you destroyed one of my warriors? What good is that if you can't get rid of my other samurai?"

"Did you already forget?" the prince remarked, "Your Kageki only has an addition fifteen hundred attack when another Six Samurai warrior is on the field. Sure, you've got your Spirit of the Six Samurai, but right now, he's being used as an equip spell, meaning he no longer counts as a demon."

Victoria's eyes widened as Henry exclaimed, "I have to say, honey, our son really is worthy! Even I would have taken at least a little while to come to that conclusion!"

Victoria trembled as she knew the man was right. His attack power had been twenty-two hundred before, but now it had gone all the way down to seven hundred just like that. Now the princess saw the true brilliance of his plan. By ridding her of her weaker samurai first, Eric had made her powerhouse unable to protect her.

However, just as Gogogo Golem was about to destroy Kageki with a rock-hard punch to his chest, Victoria was shocked when her spirit's armour was destroyed instead, the spirit flying into her graveyard. The woman then blinked and took a deep breath, saying, "That's right. Any samurai with Spirit's armour equipped to it can survive one attack as long the armour is used as a sacrifice. And what's more is that I don't take in damage because you essentially destroyed an equip spell."

And as she had stated, Kageki was still alive as Eric took a deep breath, saying, "I guess that's that," as he ended his turn, Henry gulping nervously. Sure, Victoria's samurai was weak now, but who knew what she could pull off in a single turn, even if she would only have two talismans in her hand at the start of her turn.

And as Victoria drew her next talisman, a grin formed on her face as she said, "I don't have much to work with now, but thanks to this spell, I'm certain I will."

With that, the princess placed a talisman into a slot and activated it, four talismans flying from the top of Eric's deck and into his hand while Victoria received five additional talismans the same way. Eric was rather confused until Esmeralda said, "Wow, I haven't seen Card of Sanctity used in ages."

"Indeed," Henry replied with a nod of his head, "It's a very rare spell. It figures Rose Kingdom would have it."

"So what exactly did it do?" Eric asked as Victoria explained, "This spell allows both duellists to draw until they have six talismans in their hand. With this, my options have got up significantly."

The princess then proceeded to place a talisman onto the square next to Kageki as a man covered in black samurai armour appeared. His name was Legendary Six Samurai Kizan.

Eric noticed his attack power was on the same level as that of Gogogo Golem and felt confused until Victoria explained, "Kizan's special power is that as long as I have another Six Samurai warrior on the field, I can special summon him. That means I can still perform a normal summon, and I choose Six Samurai Yariza!"

A more slender man with his own black armour appeared with an enchanted sword attached to a whip in his hand. However, this still made little sense to Eric as his attack power was rather low.

However, all became clear when Victoria set a talisman into a slow, saying, "I now activate the spell, The A Forces. For each warrior or spellcaster I control, every single one of my warriors gains two hundred attack points!"

Eric, Henry and Esmeralda were terrified now as the princess stated, "With Kageki's power now up to seventeen hundred, you can only imagine how bad this is as everyone gains six hundred attack points!"

Now it was clear that the princess was a legitimate threat. Sure, she had summoned some impressive warriors earlier, but her best strategy had backfired significantly, part of it being due to her own lack of knowledge. However, it seemed she now knew fully well what she was doing and thus things had certainly turned in her favour.

"While this may seem pointless, I can't take my chances," Victoria said as she pointed forward and explained, "Yariza can attack your armour directly as long as I have another Six Samurai on the field. So you can imagine where this is headed."

Henry and Esmeralda were concerned as Yariza took hold of the whip portion of his sword, cracking it toward Eric's armour and striking it hard. This brought his damage points down to twenty-four hundred as Kageki charged at Gogogo Golem with his swords at the ready and slashed the stone giant in half.

The prince winced as he took in all four blades to his armour, his damage points dropping to nineteen hundred. And it only got worse when Kizan cut open his unicorn and slashed his armour, reducing his damage points to eleven hundred.

Eric blinked when he looked at the number on the gem and asked, "How did I lose eight hundred damage points?" Victoria smirking and replying, "I forgot to mention. When I have more than one Six Samurai on the field, Kizan gains an addition three hundred attack."

"Oh yes," Henry replied, nodding his head, "I had almost forgotten about that. The Six Samurai are not too threatening when they're alone, but when they're together, they can make for a formidable force."

'He's right about that,' Victoria thought, 'I can't thank Mother enough for this deck. This is the best thing I could have asked for. It makes even an inexperienced person like me into one of the strongest soldiers.'

As her turn came to a close, the pink-haired woman smirked and said, "Well, Prince Eric, show me how you can respond to that. As you're probably well-aware, this incident could very well change people's view of the royal family as a whole."

Eric frowned and drew his next talisman, remarking, "I'll have you know that I'm not a weakling! Just like you, I have motivation and drive and there is no way I'm going to let my family down!"

Henry's eyes sparkled as the boy added, "Watch me, Dad! I'll show you that you made the right choice when you allowed me to become a knight!"

With that, the man proceeded to place a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet. This brought out a metallic red bird with two heads and orange wings with black blade-like features that resembled feathers. Victoria was confused until the prince explained, "This is ZW Eagle Claw, and if my opponents has at least two thousand more damage points than me, I can special summon him!"

But while this demon had a very high attack power, it was still lower than that of Kageki and Kizan. Sure, he would have been stronger if not for Victoria's spell, but there was little he could do to change that.

However, it seemed the boy had more planned as he summoned an archer with a yellow tunic with black sleeves and a helmet to cover his head. Before Victoria could even question this, the archer readied his bow and fired an arrow into her armour, dropping her damage points to thirty-two hundred.

"That was Achacha Archer's special power," Eric explained with a grin, "When summoned normally, he can inflict five hundred points of direct damage to you."

"This is all well and good, but it still doesn't help you," Victoria growled only to the prince to retort, "Actually, it helps more than you could ever imagine."

Victoria's eyes widened as he placed two talismans into his gauntlet, activating them both. The first was Ego Boost, which he used on his Eagle Claw to boost his strength by one thousand. The other spell, Blustering Winds seemed to have a similar effect as a dark wind surrounded the archer, bringing his power higher as well while he flexed the muscles in his right arm.

"Oh no," Victoria uttered as Eric grinned and said, "As you can see, there's a lot more to my deck than you could ever imagine. Now that both of my fighters have enough power, I can destroy either one of your warriors. But for the best results, I feel that this is the most effective course of action."

With that, he had Achacha Archer fire an arrow into Yariza, the samurai's eyes wide as he flew into Victoria's graveyard. The princess then took the arrow to her chest plate as her damage points were reduced to twenty-six hundred.

And it did not end there as Eagle Claw flew toward Kizan with both of his heads pressing up their cheeks against one-another. This caused a flame to form around them as they blasted right through the samurai, sending him into the graveyard and striking Victoria's armour. This brought her damage points down to nineteen hundred, Henry and Esmeralda both applauding their son with tears in their eyes.

"Not only does Kageki lose another two hundred attack points from that, but he also loses fifteen since there's no other Six Samurai on the field," Eric stated as Victoria bit her lower lip. However, while this was certainly an amazing comeback, there was one problem for Eric. He could no longer attack this turn and thus Kageki was safe. And it did not help the prince that both of his spells would ware off at the end of the turn.

Even so, it seemed Eric did have at least a little bit more planned as he set two talismans into slots, his turn finally coming to a close as he took a deep breath. Now the princess was praying for a miracle. Sure, she had a couple of moves in her hand that could deal with Achacha Archer, but nothing could compare to the might of Eagle Claw, now even Kageki's special power.

"You know, Victoria, you're a really good duellist," Eric said as the princess' eyes widened, a light scowl forming but soon fading when the boy added, "And I mean it. Even if you lose today, I just want you to know that you are definitely worthy of being a knight. It's just a shame we couldn't have been brother and sister, otherwise we could have been possible allies."

The princess blushed lightly before sighing, "Thank you, but your praise means little to me," though deep down, she was lying. If anything, hearing this much praise from an enemy was beyond satisfying and gave her a sense that really did have what it took. But even so, if she lost this duel, it would hardly matter as she knew Richard would see this as nothing more than failure, a sign that she was not ready after all.

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and looked over her hand. At the very least, she still had four to work with, so it was not as if she was short on options.

However, it seemed the one she had just drawn could help her win this duel as a grin formed on her face, the pink-haired woman saying, "Well, Eric, I hope you enjoyed your moment of glory because I'm gonna knock your socks off with this next move!"

She then proceeded to place a talisman next to Kageki, an old man with long white hair on both his head and chin taking form. His body was covered in black armour and he had a scar on his right eye.

"Oh no," Henry uttered as Victoria explained, "This is Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. As long as I control another Six Samurai warrior, I can special summon him to the field. And with him here, as you can imagine, Kageki's power has gone up again."

Eric frowned as she proceeded to place another talisman onto a square, adding, "And while this guy won't bring up anyone's power, I know I won't need it by the time I'm done."

With that, she placed another talisman onto her gauntlet's demon zone as a balding man in rusty grey and red armour appeared. He had a purple aura around him and was covered in arrows. His name was The Immortal Bushi and while not very strong, he was more than enough to destroy Eric's armour once he was defenceless.

'Yes, I'm going to do it, Father,' the princess thought with a smirk, 'This war will come to an end and we'll be victorious all because of me!'

However, the woman was rather concerned about Eric's set talismans and as such, she decided to kick it up a notch as she placed her second-last talisman into a slot and activate it, exclaiming, "Before I strike you down, I active my own Mystical Space Typhoon to take down one of your talismans!"

However, it seemed Eric was ready for this as he activated one, saying, "I use Dark Bribe. In exchange for letting you have another talisman in your hand, I can negate and destroy any spell or trap that you use."

Victoria frowned as she drew another talisman, and just as she thought, it was one she could not make use of. As such, she took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, may as well get this over with.'

With that in mind, the woman proceeded to have Grandmaster lift up his sword as he charged toward Eagle Claw. But just as he was about to strike, Eric smirked and said, "So close, but not good enough," the prince revealing another trap, namely Shadow Spell.

Victoria's eyes widened as chains shot out of a tablet and latched themselves onto Grandmaster, stunting his movement as his muscle mass started to deteriorate. The princess stared in shock as Eric explained, "Thanks to this trap, not only can your Grandmaster not attack or change positions, but his attack power has been reduced by seven hundred."

Victoria simply growled and spat, "Fine, I'll just use Kageki to take down that archer of yours instead!" the samurai lifting his blades and rushing at the archer, putting four cuts on him and sending him to Eric's graveyard.

When the prince took in a strike and had his damage points reduced to two hundred, he did not look the least bit distraught. Instead, he had a smirk on his face as he stated, "You made a big mistake attacking my archer."

"What are you-?" Victoria asked before it dawned on her. Thanks to her A Forces spell, Kageki was, in fact, just powerful enough to destroy Eagle Claw. In short she could have had him destroy the mechanical bird while having Bushi destroy himself along with Achacha Archer. At least then, Eric would be defenceless thus leaving him with little to work with on his next turn.

With that in mind, the princess' turn came to a close as she lower her head. It seemed that despite all of her effort, she still had a lot to learn. If she had not made such a boneheaded mistake, she would have at least had a higher chance of surviving this turn.

As Eric drew his next talisman, a big grin formed on his face as he had drawn the spell 'Monster Reborn'. With this in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "Time to end this," as he activated the spell and returned his Unicorn Spear to the field.

Victoria stared in shock as Henry said, "Good show, my boy," Esmeralda sighing, "Yep, he's definitely grown up."

With that, Eric pretty much guaranteed his victory when he summoned Neo the Magic Swordsman. Now the princess knew for sure it was over as she bit her lower lip, a scowl on her face. She had come so close that she simply could not accept this.

Eagle Claw flew toward Grandmaster and rammed his beaks through him, sending him into the princess' graveyard and striking her armour. This brought her damage points down to seventeen hundred as Unicorn Spear pierced Bushi with her horn, striking the undead soldier into the grave lowering the damage points to eleven hundred.

With no other Six Samurai to give him power, Kageki's attack had been reduced to four hundred. As such, he was no match for Neo as the swordsman sliced him open, sending him into Victoria's graveyard. He then struck her armour hard and brought her damage points all the way down to zero, her armour coming open and collapsing as she stood there in fear an alarm.

However, she simply set her hands by her sides and sighed, "I admit defeat. You may strike me down now," only for Eric to reply, "I cannot do that. I want to protect my kingdom, but I have no desire to end the life of another."

With that, he pressed his hand against the gem on his gauntlet thus removing the magic field. Secretly, Victoria was happy to be alive, but it still pained her that she had lost after coming so close to victory.

Henry, all the while, placed his hand against his chest and let out a big sigh of relief, Esmeralda rubbing his shoulders and saying, "There, there. Everything's fine."

Eric then approached the princess and said, "I know you're a member of royalty, but you still tried to kidnap my dad. As much as it pains me to do it, I have to take you to the royal guard to have you sent to prison."

However, the princess could not accept this. She would much rather face the wrath of her father and the scoldings of Clement than spend a great deal of time in a cell. As such, she used the last ounce of her strength to make a dash for it, forcing the double doors open and heading toward a window.

Eric tried to pursue her along with his parents only for the princess to leap out of the opening. If there was one thing she was good at, it was landing and as such, she made perfect contact with the ground below. Sure, the height caused her a bit of pain in her legs, but she could at least tolerate this as she sprinted toward the bridge.

The guards noticed her as one asked, "Hey, who are you!?" only for each man to take a blow to the back of the head. While both were unconscious, Victoria groaned at the sight of five knights from her kingdom standing there.

"Well, you guys at least showed up at a good time," the princess grumbled as the five signalled her to follow.

Since none of the citizens had seen them knock out the guards, no one would try to stop them, especially since Victoria took this opportunity to slip her gauntlet back into her satchel. All-in-all, this day could have been worse for her, but it had still turned out badly in the end.


	22. Chapter 22

Neil and Taylor returned at the same time as Izy and Will to report the day's events. It had been rather uneventful for all of them, but Celeste was glad that they at least did their duty successfully.

However, Eric was not so happy as he went to his room and slumped down on his bed. Sure, he swore the barrack would be his new home, but right now, he did not feel like going there.

All the while, Henry and Esmeralda looked concerned as Henry asked, "Son, is something the matter? You did a really good job. You should be proud of yourself."

"It's not about that," Eric groaned, "It's just, well, I let her get away. We had a perfect chance to arrest her and she still managed to escape."

"Well, neither of us saw that coming," Esmeralda replied, "Normally after a duel, no one would have enough energy to move that quickly," Henry nodding and adding, "It's not your fault, son. I let a few invaders get away back in the day, too. I was just glad that the citizens were safe from them, so it never got me down."

"Even so," Eric sighed, "she gave me a chance to kill her, but I chose not to because it wouldn't be right to take a life. But if I had, she wouldn't have gotten away."

"Don't speak another word!" Esmeralda retorted with a stern look, Henry blinking as he got up and made his way toward the door. He knew that when his wife got like this, it was best to have her do all the talking.

Eric stared at the woman as she took a deep breath and said, "Look, Eric, what you did was right. I know not everyone in this kingdom is as merciful as you are, but trust me, no one should ever have to die for doing their duty. I would never wish death on anyone, not even my worst enemy. Even that guy who beat three of our top-ranked knights with his five-headed dragon I'd rather let live."

"So it was right to let her get away after she broke into our castle?" the prince remarked as the queen nodded and sighed, "I know this means she's one day come back and try again, but it's better that she be alive to even try that. A life is a life, no matter what the owner of that life does. Promise me you'll keep fighting while still sticking to your morals."

Eric nodded and replied, "Thanks, Mom," the two sharing a hug before the prince got up and said, "Anyway, if you'll excuse me, this isn't my room anymore."

Esmeralda smiled sweetly as she watched her son exit the room. Sure, he was still new to knighthood, but he showed so much promise.

Meanwhile, Victoria had returned to the castle and been led to the throne room where Richard glared at her and snapped, "YOU HAD US WORRIED SICK, YOUNG LADY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS!?"

"Honey, your blood pressure," Ruby uttered as the man took a few deep breaths, sighing, "You're right. Thanks, honey."

He then returned his attention to the princess and sighed, "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea making you a knight. You've clearly let it go to your head."

"But I was just trying to help!" Victoria retorted as Richard was about to give his own response only for Ruby to rest a hand on his shoulder and say, "Look, we know you had good intentions. Trying to end the war as soon as possible is a great idea. But at the same time, I doubt Duel Kingdom would cave in so easily. They would have likely figured out your bluff and gone after us to get their king back."

"Bluff?" Richard asked, "I would have killed him if they didn't cave in," only for his wife to roll her eyes and sigh, "Darling, I'm trying to have a moment."

The king furled his brow before folding his arms and grumbling, "Fine."

With that, Ruby let out a sigh and said, "Victoria, we know you meant well, but don't do something like that without our consent. We could have sent someone to help you at the very least, but now that you've tried it, they might up the security."

"Exactly," Richard grunted only for the queen to place a finger over his lips, saying, "Darling, we're not going to stop you from being a knight, but listen to Clement's orders from now on, okay? He's your boss."

The king rolled his eyes, knowing this advice was the best his daughter could receive as the princess took a deep breath and replied, "Okay. I'm sorry."

With all said and done, Victoria left the throne room with fury in her expression. Though this had nothing to do with her family or even Clement for that matter. No, there was one person on her mind right now.

'Eric,' she thought with gritted teeth, 'Everything was going so well until you showed up. How dare you come along and ruin everything?'

However, the princess' eyes widened when a young woman with long violet hair big eyes appeared behind her, saying, "I heard about what you did today. I think it was pretty cool."

Victoria turned and noticed the girl standing there, asking, "Wait, who are you?" the girl replying in a creepily neutral tone, "I'm Iris. I was just recently made a knight, so I guess I'll be fighting for the kingdom."

The pink-haired woman was a little creeped out as she thought, 'For all I know, she's probably just really nervous. I've heard a lot of knights here were forced to take the initiation test by their parents.'

With that, she faked a light smile and said, "Well, um, welcome to the army. I am-"

"Princess Victoria, I know," Iris replied, "Everyone in Rose Kingdom knows who you are, but I need to know something. What's wrong with you?"

The woman tilted her head to the side as Victoria stared and remarked, "Excuse me!?" Iris adding, "I can feel like something's troubling you," the princess thinking, 'Oh, that wasn't meant as an insult.'

Victoria then laughed nervously as Iris said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'd like to know. I didn't know princesses could be unhappy."

'What is with this person?' Victoria thought with an uncomfortable look, 'She talks like an eight-year-old and has the curiosity of someone who's five. I need to find a way out of this.'

With that in mind, the pink-haired woman laughed nervously and uttered, "Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking about knight work, is all. You know-"

"It's about disobeying your father, isn't it?" Iris asked as Victoria stared in stunned silence, "I heard that detail, too. Though I wasn't actually supposed to hear it. I simply overheard the commander ranting about it."

'Yep, he'd definitely do that,' Victoria thought with a sigh before asking, "So, why does it matter so much? Because I'm a princess, I always have to obey the rules? I'm a person, too!"

"Yes, and that's why you shouldn't beat yourself up over it," Iris replied as the princess stared in silence, the purple-haired woman giving a light smile and adding, "I know you feel bad about it, and you feel bad about failing, but you did something no one's ever had the courage to do. I think that's really cool."

The princess could not believe what she had heard. And to make things weirder, Iris' words sounded genuine even though the pitch of her voice did not alter in the slightest. On one hand, anyone could just say that to get on the princess' good side, but Iris did not seem to care about that, but there was another possibility?

"Are you just saying it was a good thing because of my status," Victoria asked as Iris shook her head and replied, "No, I don't see much of a reason to kiss up to royalty. Personally, I think anyone who does that is a tool."

Considering where she was standing when she said this, there was no way Iris could be lying. Sure, no one else was around, but there was always that possibility and anyone caught uttering such words, be them knights or peasants, would be punished for saying such a thing.

Iris noticed Victoria was not about to respond to her comment as she walked over to her and said, "I'd like to be your friend. Maybe we can work together on a quest," her light smile returning as the princess was aghast. No one had ever asked to be her friend as they believed royalty did not need or even want friendship.

Seeing the genuine honesty in Iris' eyes put Victoria at ease. While more up front with this than most people would be upon meeting anyone, be them royalty or not, it seemed like Iris was not the average Rose Kingdom Knight and the princess was more than happy about this.

"Anyone show you around the castle yet?" Victoria asked as the purple-haired woman shook her head and replied, "No, but Clement was going to."

"Well, screw him," the princess replied with a smirk, "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour," and just as the two were on their way out of the area, Clement arrived and asked, "Hey, Iris, you ready for the-?"

When he noticed she was walking with the princess, he let out and sigh and groaned, "Of course, no one ever wants to take the tour with me. Oh well, this gives me time to focus on my training."

Meanwhile, in Duel Kingdom, Izy and the others were enjoying dinner as Will looked at Eric and asked, "So you really faced Rose Kingdom's princess? How tough was she?" the prince replying, "She almost won. Honestly, I feel lucky that I managed to win."

Izy, all the while, was deep in thought as Taylor asked, "Something wrong?" the brunette shaking her head and replying, "No. I'm just curious, what does she look like?"

"She has naturally pink hair," the prince replied as Izy turned to Will gasped, "You don't think that the girl I bumped into on the street, do you?" the man laughing nervously and saying, "If that was her, that would be awkward."

"Don't feel too bad," Eric replied, "She's never been to Duel Kingdom, so Mom, Dad and I are the only ones who have ever met her. Though I'm surprised those two invaders didn't recognize me."

"How long ago was your visit?" Will asked as the prince replied, "Well, I was ten at the time," Neil uttering, "Honestly, I'm surprised you recognized her after that long."

Either way, he had won and saved his father, so it was not as if he had much to complain about. Though a part of him really wished the war did not have to go on. It was as he and Victoria said. Under any other circumstances, they could have been friends.

"Still, to think no one's ever tried breaking in before," Neil uttered, "Even I hadn't thought about that too much," Taylor nodding and replying, "Don't worry. If anyone breaks in, you'll stop them, right?" the woman pinching the blond's cheek.

Soon enough, bedtime came along. However, Neil and Taylor had chosen to stay up late and train some more. After having done so for a couple of nights, the blond knight had gotten used to it.

"Well, that was better," the man uttered as Taylor nodded and said, "Night, Neil."

But just as the two were about to head to their respective barracks, Neil heard a twig snap as he exclaimed, "Who's there!?" Taylor asking, "Did you hear something?"

And sure enough, both spotted a woman in a cloak, only her face was not as covered as that of the dangerous stranger. She appeared to be quite young with green bangs hanging out of the sides of her hood.

"Who are you?" Neil asked while trying his best not to panic, Taylor narrowing her eyelids and adding, "It's kind of suspicious to see you sneaking around in our back yard."

The woman took a deep breath and remarked, "I don't have to tell you any of that," before revealing a gauntlet and turning it on. But as she did so, Neil got a glimpse of her clothes under the cloak and whispered, "Hey, she's not wearing armour. You think she might be with Rose Kingdom?"

"For your information, I have nothing to do with them," the woman retorted, "I simply don't have armour, so I rely on my gauntlet alone."

Suddenly, all of Neil's fear left him as he uttered, "You're kidding, right?" the woman shaking her head and remarking, "I'll have you know I'm completely serious."

However, just as quickly as it had left, the blond knight's fear returned as he groaned, "Oh no, that means if we hit her, she'll die, right?" Taylor nodding and sighing, "I hate to say it, but even I don't wish to do this. However, if she's a threat to Duel Kingdom, we'll have to end her life."

With that in mind, Neil and Taylor both activated the magic field along with the intruder, Neil taking a deep breath and thinking, 'This is it, my moment to prove that I can be of help.'

"Since you two challenged me, I guess you can decide who goes first," the woman stated as Taylor winked at Neil and said, "Go on. Show her what you can do," the blond nodding and replying, "Right."

Neil nodded and exclaimed, "I will go first, and I begin with this!"

The blond knight proceeded to set a talisman face-down on the middle square of his gauntlet, a boulder appearing before him. He then set a talisman into a slot and ended his turn, thinking, 'This time, I've thought up a countermeasure. I just hope Taylor can keep her busy long enough.'

The woman's turn started as she placed her own talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet. This brought forth a man with blue armour covering his upper body over a cloak of the same colour. This was Skilled Dark Magician, and for a low-level mage, he had very high attack power.

She then set one talisman into a slot and had her magician aim a blast of magic at Neil's defending demon. The boy shielded his eyes as the magic shattered the boulder, a black dragon with a spear-like head appearing. This was Dragunity Darkspear and he was not very powerful, so he was easily taken care of as the woman sighed, "I expected better."

"Just you wait," Taylor said with a smirk as Neil gave her a thumb up, thinking, 'That's part one taken care of. Let's see if I can pull this off.'

His black-haired partner drew a talisman and said, "So I see you try to protect yourself with strong fighters. But that magician of yours isn't enough to stand up to this."

With this in mind, the woman proceeded to summon her Amazoness Swords Woman. The intruder rose an eyebrow as Taylor proceeded to place a talisman in a slot, pressing it with her finger.

"I activate Amazoness Fighting Spirit!" the woman exclaimed with a grin, "As long as an Amazoness attacks an adversary with a higher attack, she will gain one thousand attack points!"

This showed as the woman's muscles expanded in size while she gripped her sword tighter. She then charged at the magician with her blade at the ready, but just as she was about to strike, the cloaked woman sighed, "I'm sorry, but you've only made things easier for me."

Taylor and Neil both stared in complete silence as the intruder activated the talisman she had set on her turn. At that moment, two big vases emerged from a tablet and tilted themselves sideways so the opening was facing the incoming amazon.

As such, the woman's eyes went wide as she was sucked into the first vase, the second one launching her blade-first into Taylor's armour, the intruder saying, "This is Magic Cylinder. It deflects any attack and sends it back into my opponent, dealing direct damage to his or her armour equal to that of the attacking demon."

Taylor's eyes widened as she realized just how dumb giving her sword wielder more power was. As a result of her own recklessness, her armour had already been broken as it came off of her and fell on the ground behind her.

Sure, since Neil's side was combined with hers, the amazon and her spell were still on the field, but now they would be rendered useless soon as the blond turned to his black-haired friend, trembling all over. The intruder simply shrugged her shoulders and sighed as if this was the biggest waste of time she had ever dealt with.

However, just as Neil was thinking of surrendering, Taylor placed a soft grip against his hand and grinned, saying, "Well, I blew it, but you're still in this duel. Don't forget, you only need to damage her once. Go on and make me proud."

The blond knight took a deep breath and thought, 'Right. I can't let my fear show. I have to do this, even if it does involve me committing murder.'

However, he might have even more trouble than he bargained for as the intruder set a spell into a slot and tapped it, saying, "I now activate Cost Down. This allows me to reduce the number of sacrifices required to perform a tribute summon. That allows me to summon Dark Magician in exchange for my Skilled Dark Magician."

'I think Celeste has that talisman too,' Neil thought as the cloaked woman placed a talisman on top of her mage, his talisman flying into the woman's graveyard. In his place was a blue mage in a black magician's cloak.

However, he calmed down when he remembered something very important. When Amazoness Swords Woman was destroyed, the opponent would take in the damage instead of the owner. As such, he put on a serious look and uttered, "I-I won't back down. G-G-Give me your best shot."

With that in mind, the woman took a deep breath and said, "I guess if this was strong enough to finish you off, you wouldn't be so confident. Either way, you were doomed to failure from the start."

But before she had her mage attack she activated a spell and added, "By the way, thanks to Dark Magic Attack, your set spells and traps are useless," Neil gulping as Dark Magician sent a blast of magic into the hidden tablet and Taylor's spell, sending each to its respective graveyard.

'I didn't need it anyway,' Neil thought as the magician proceeded to send another magical blast into the sword wielding amazon, the woman crying out in pain as she flew into Neil's graveyard. However, Taylor simply grinned and said, "You just cost yourself the duel."

"Wow, irony," Neil uttered as the woman gasped. It seemed her mage's attack had bounced off of the amazon's blade as it flew toward the cloaked woman.

However, it seemed this would not be as easy as expected as when it came close to her, a magical barrier formed and took in the blast, her damage points reduced to three thousand. Needless to say, both Neil and Taylor were stupefied.

"What just happened?" Neil uttered as Taylor shrugged her shoulders, the cloaked woman saying, "It's impressive how you all managed to find a way to bind the magic of the gauntlets to your armour, but I have done something far more impressive. I am a master at magic and as such, I have found a way to have the gem create a protective barrier. As such, I do not require armour to partake in a magic duel."

Neil then rubbed his eyes as the woman sighed, "That ends my turn. Honestly, I'm impressed one of you found a way to damage me."

Now the duel had truly gotten hard for the man. Sure, damage had been dealt, but that was more Taylor's doing than his.

But just as he was about to panic, Taylor gave him a big grin and said, "Well, you're still in this. Show her what you're made of," the boy's eyes widening as the cloaked woman sighed, "Yes, show me how you're going to destroy my Dark Magician and keep yourself safe from harm."

At that very moment, Neil was shocked when the other knights awoke, Celeste groaning, "What's all the noise?" her eyes widening as Taylor grinned at her, saying, "Don't worry, ma'am. Neil's got this."

However, this only caused those watching to worry more as Celeste sighed, "Neil, it's okay to surrender. I'll take your place," the cloaked woman raising an eyebrow as Izy gave the commander a nudge and remarking, "That wasn't very supportive."

She then grinned and exclaimed, "Come on, you can win this!" the other knights not so sure. As much as Will wanted to support his new friend, he knew how bad Neil's track record was and why. He had never dealt damage to an opponent in his life, and they somehow knew Taylor had responsible for the damage the cloaked woman had taken in.

'No,' Neil thought through gritted teeth, 'I can do this! I've been training and getting better and it's time to finally show the fruits of my labour! No more will I be the loser of Duel Kingdom!'

With that in mind, he drew a talisman and said, "Sorry, guys, but I'm gonna finish this intruder," Izy and Eric both cheering as Will and Celeste gulped nervously. Did Neil have what it took to win this?


	23. Chapter 23

While Neil had finally gained a bit of confidence, would this really be enough? After all, up until now, he had never been able to deal damage on his own during a duel. He could very well lose this.

At the very least, he was going to put everything into this move, especially now that he knew he could not kill his opponent. With that in mind, he looked over his hand as the other knights watched in silence, praying for a miracle. Sure, they may have doubted the blond, but they did not wish for him to die.

However, it seemed as if the boy really did have something impressive in store as he placed a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet. Everyone was confused when a man with grey armour and a green bird mask along with wings of the same colour appeared.

"What good is that supposed to do?" one guy asked as Izy grinned and replied, "Clearly there's more to this than meets the eye."

'You're right about that, Izy,' Neil thought as Darkspear returned to the field from his graveyard. However, something odd happened when his talisman inserted itself into a slot, the dragon forming into a spear-like shape, his body having now been transformed into a handle while Neil's warrior grabbed a hold of him.

"What just happened?" one knight asked as another uttered, "I don't know. I've never seen him pull off something so complicated before."

"Surprised?" Neil asked with a proud grin, "See, when I summon Dragunity Legionnaire, I can choose one level three or lower Dragunity demon in my graveyard and use him as an equip spell. Thus his attack power has just gone up by Darkspear's power!"

No one could believe this. Not only was this a smart move but Neil even sounded, of all things, confident. What if he really could do this?

Unfortunately, they forgot one simple fact as the cloaked woman sighed, "Not bad, but your Legionnaire is still too weak."

"That's why I'll equip him with this," Neil replied with a grin as he set a talisman into a slot and tapped it.

Not one could believe their eyes as as a strong surge of power went through Legionnaire, Neil explaining, "For every demon I control, I can increase one demon's power by eight hundred. Sure, this would be better if I had more than one, but it's still enough to defeat your magician."

Celeste whistled and said, "Colour me impressed," Will nodding and exclaiming, "You're great, Neil! Keep it up!"

The blond nodded and had his warrior fly toward Dark Magician, striking him in the chest and sending him into the cloaked woman's graveyard. Darkspear was then rammed hard into her magic barrier as her damage points dropped to twenty-five hundred, Neil's eyes and mouth wide open when Legionnaire returned to his side of the field.

'I can't believe it,' the blond thought, 'I actually did it. I dealt damage to an invading knight! Maybe I do have what it takes!'

However, as his turn came to a close, it seemed the cloaked woman was not finished yet as she said, "You two are more of a pain than you're worth, but it's over for you."

"Wait, what?" Neil uttered as the woman proceeded to activate Monster Reborn, her Dark Magician returning to the field. Taylor simply smirked and said, "See that? She's out of ideas."

"Not quite," the woman remarked as placed another talisman over her mage, saying, "By sacrificing my Dark Magician, I can special summon Dark Eradicator Warlock," everyone terrified now as the mage turned into a flash of light.

Soon enough, the light faded as Dark Magician had been replaced by another blue man with a similar face. However, this one was dressed in black armour that resembled his cloak and wielded a longer staff with a big, bright violet gem on top. Said gem was shaped like the head of a trident.

But as quickly as everyone's fear had gone up, it quickly dissipated as one asked, "Wait, what was that supposed to accomplish?"

This was certainly a good question as Eradicator's attack power was exactly the same as Dark Magician's. However, it seemed that might soon change as the cloaked woman said, "It seems I'll have to sacrifice my magician to finish you off."

With that in mind, she placed one last spell into a slot and activated it, a sword forming in the mage's free hand. Everyone recognized this as Sword of Deep Seated and knew what that did.

However, what shocked everyone was when after the spell had been equipped, Eradicator pointed his staff forward and sent a burst of violet magic into Neil's armour, dropping his damage points to Five hundred. No one could fathom what had happened until the cloaked woman explained, "This is what makes Eradicator superior to Dark Magician, is that he has a special power. See, whenever either of us activates a spell, he will deal one thousand points of direct damage to the opponent."

But of course it did not end there as the cloaked woman had one more talisman. And she wasted no time placing it on the square next to Eradicator as a small girl with a white robe and pink hair under a goat toque appeared. Everyone stared in stunned silence as they could not believe this demon would deliver the final blow.

"Sorry I couldn't use anyone stronger than White Magician Pikeru," the cloaked woman said with a shrug, "I truly believe you're more worthy of a dignified finish, but she was all I had left in my hand."

Neil groaned and asked, "Taylor, what can I do?" the black-haired woman sighing, "Don't worry. You did a great job. Don't let one loss break your spirit."

It was not that he was worried about so much as it was the possibility that he and his best friend might very well die. And it truly seemed to be the end when Eradicator sent a burst of magic with both his sword and his staff into Legionnaire.

However, since their power was equal, Darkspear deflected the blast just long enough for the warrior to fly into the mage. As a result, both flew into their respective owners' graveyards as Neil bit his lower lip. There was no doubt about it. This truly was the end.

Pikeru simply gave a cute smile and aimed her wand at the blond knight, firing a small orb of magic into his armour. This brought his damage points down to zero as his armour came clean off, falling behind him as the man fell on his back.

"Are you okay!?" Taylor gasped as Neil grinned lightly, saying, "I really have gotten better, haven't I?"

But just as everyone was afraid the two might die, the cloaked woman relinquished the magic field and said, "Worry not. I have no intention of killing you. I only came here to retrieve something, but it's clearly too late."

And as much as it pained her to admit it, this was very much true. With every other knight assembled together and Neil and Taylor having damaged her barrier as much as they had, there was no doubt that she would be struck down if she continued.

As such, the woman sighed and snapped her fingers, a bright light surrounding her and blinding the knights. And sure enough, the woman had vanished as Celeste looked around, asking, "Did anyone see where she went?"

"Unfortunately, no," one of the knights groaned as another asked, "What could she have been looking for around here? I've never seen anything in this area."

Either way, Taylor was more concerned about Neil right now as she uttered, "He's not getting up," Celeste nodding and replying, "Alright, we'll get him to the hospital wing. The rest of you can go to sleep. I doubt anything else will happen tonight."

And so the group headed to that location with Neil humped over Taylor's shoulders. After all, it only made sense for her to be the one to carry him, not just because of their bond but because she was the most physically strong knight in the kingdom.

Along the way, Celeste asked Taylor if she knew why the cloaked woman had a barrier around her when Neil launched his attack. And needless to say, the explanation was just as alarming and hard to take in for the others as it had been for Taylor.

"So someone has found a way to protect herself without armour," Izy uttered, "That would be cool if she was on our side."

Eric nodded before asking, "So she wasn't a member of the Rose Kingdom army?" Taylor nodding and replying, "That's right. It's like that other cloaked knight we've been hearing about. I wonder if maybe those two are working together."

"Oh god, he might have a whole army!" Will groaned while trembling, Celeste resting a hand on his shoulder and sighed, "Calm down. I'm sure we'll deal with this problem soon enough. We just need to know more about them."

"Besides, what are the odds of those two conspiring together?" Izy asked, "For all we know, she's probably just some petty thief. A really powerful one, mind you, but still petty."

"We still can't rule out the possibility," Celeste replied with a sigh, "Whatever the case, at least she didn't kill anyone. Still, I can't help feeling like she's going to come back."

"Well, what are we going to do about that?" Will asked as the commander replied, "I'll talk to the king about a possible night staff. It'll be a big adjustment and we may need new recruits to fill in the rolls, but it's the only logical solution."

All went silent as Izy asked, "Wait, you mean we don't have a night staff? Geez, I'm surprised this place wasn't attacked at night sooner."

"I hate to say it, but that's a good point," Celeste replied, "Anyway, I'll talk to the king tomorrow," Eric grinning and replying, "Yeah, I just know he'll jump at the opportunity."

Soon enough, Neil was set on a hospital bed as Taylor asked, "Hey, Celeste, my I spend the night here? I'd like to be by Neil's side."

The commander blinked and replied, "Well, of course. You don't need to ask for my permission."

"Do you think he'll be okay when morning rolls around?" Izy asked as Celeste replied, "I'm positive. After all, he still had his armour on when that woman finished him off. I'm sure he'll be okay in a few hours."

With all said and done, the others went back to the barrack while Taylor gave Neil a warm smile and whispered, "You were great today," the black-haired woman yawning and dozing off.

All the while, the cloaked woman entered a cave as a certain man turned to her and asked, "Back already?"

"Unfortunately, I couldn't retrieve the talisman," the woman sighed before taking a seat, the cloaked man sporting a distraught look as the woman asked, "Are you mad at me?"

The distraught look soon changed to a big smile as the man laughed and exclaimed, "No, of course not! I'm just messing with you!"

He then patted the woman on the shoulder as she sighed, "Of course. You never get mad," the man then asking, "So, you got held up?"

"Yes," the woman replied, "All of the knights woke up and came after me. There was no way I could take them all, so I had no choice but to retreat."

"That's understandable," the man replied while holding his hands behind his head, "Oh well, you can always try again later."

With that, the man ripped off the leg of a boar he had been roasting over a fire and offered it to the woman. She simply shook her head as he shrugged and bit into it.

"By the way," the woman stated, "Your daughter was there. Seems she joined the Duel Kingdom army."

The man's eyes widened as he swallowed the chunk of boar meat in his mouth, asking, "Is that right? Are you sure it was her?"

"Positive," the woman replied, "Don't forget, I can figure out people's heritage just from looking at them, and she definitely has your blood flowing through her veins."

"Well, my little girl's a knight, huh?" the man asked while holding his arms behind his head, "Well, I always knew she was worthy of it. I wish she wasn't working for the king, but at least she's making use of her skills. Did she seem happy?"

The woman nodded and said, "Mark my words, I could tell looking at her that this was her choice," the man grinning and replying, "Well, as long as she's happy, I'm happy for her. Though I know she'll want to come over to my side soon enough when the time comes."

With that, he let out a big yawn and allowed himself to fall on his back, saying, "I'm sleepy now. Nighty night," the woman rolling her eyes with a light smile and replying, "Goodnight."

The following morning, Taylor and Neil awoke at the same time. Seeing him conscious, the black-haired woman smiled and exclaimed, "Thank goodness you're okay!" the blond knight groaning as she pinched both of his cheeks extra hard and moved them around in a circular motion.

After a few seconds, she released her hold and gasped, "Oh, sorry about that!" Neil laughing nervously and replying, "It's okay. I'm used to it."

He then sat up and let out a sigh, uttering, "Though I wish I could have done a better job. This was my big chance and I still lost."

"Don't say that," Taylor remarked with a stern look, "You did a great job! It's not your fault that woman had an ace up her sleeve!"

Neil was about to retort but instead figured he may as well look on the bright side, the blond knight saying, "Well, I did do better than usual, so I guess that's something."

"There you go," Taylor said with a grin as she held his hands, "That training has made a difference, so instead of looking at this as another failure, look at it as a step in the right direction."

Neil nodded and uttered, "We should probably get our armour fixed, shouldn't we?" Taylor nodding and saying, "That's right. Our suits were damaged last night."

Soon enough, all was settled as the two prepared for the day just in time for breakfast. Izy waved at the duo as they waved back. Due to them coming later than their friends, they would have to wait in line for a while, but at least they both felt ready for the day's assignments.

All the while, Celeste had told Henry about the intruder over breakfast. Needless to say, both he and Esmeralda were shocked, as were the high-ranking knights.

"So on the whole, I think it's high time we implement a night staff," the commander stated as Henry stroked his beard.

"Wait, we don't have a night staff?" Esmeralda asked as Henry replied, "Well, it's highly uncommon for someone to attack us at night. But it sounds like this intruder is a big threat, and there might be a chance more are coming."

Celeste nodded as the king nodded his head and added, "You're right. It's time to start assigning night duty to some of our knights. After all, there are those who are not busy during the day, right?"

The commander nodded with a light smile on her face. Hopefully, the kingdom would be safer as a result of this.

All the while, Victoria was happy to finally have someone to join her for breakfast. Iris may have had the same tone of voice no matter what she was saying, but she and the princess still had plenty to talk about.

Needless to say, the other knights were beyond confused. Why was someone as important as the princess having smalltalk with a new recruit? Whatever the case, it would certainly take a while for anyone to get used to this sight.

"Look at those tools, acting as if you having a friend is the end of the world," Iris said before slipping a spoonful of gruel into her mouth.

"Yeah, I can't believe I actually wanted to fit in with these morons," the princess replied with a snicker, one knight whispering, "You think Iris might be her long-lost sister or something?"

Another knight shrugged and replied, "That's the only explanation I can think of."

Either way, Victoria was happier than she had ever been before. After she had almost given up hope, someone in the world saw her as more than just a princess. This surprisingly felt better than Richard's approval, but why? Why would a stranger matter more to Victoria than her own father?

Whatever the case, there was no doubt that things could very well look up for her from here on in. Even if she never got a big assignment, at least she had someone she could have a conversation with.


	24. Chapter 24

The knights were all assembled by the entrance for the day's assignments as Celeste said, "Alright, due to last night's attack on the castle, we are now implementing a knight staff. As such, I will read out a list of names. Whoever I mention is required to get at least eight hours of sleep today. Only then will you truly be prepared to stay up all night." *

Some knights looked rather nervous about this. How could they possibly sleep the day away after already getting in nearly that same number of hours last night?

Soon enough, twenty knights were chosen to keep watch while the others were in bed, Izy and her friends not among that group. Will felt beyond fortunate not to be one of them while Izy felt a tad disappointed not to be chosen. Sure, she would rather work with her friends, but at the same time, she felt like night duty would have been good experience for her.

Eric, on the other hand, seemed content either way while Neil felt it too early to be selected for something like that. Taylor, having been raised by wolves, would have been fine with night work, but it was not too big of a deal for her.

"Anyway, now for the day time assignments," Celeste said before pointing at Neil and Taylor, adding, "It's good to see you in high spirits, but I still think it might be too soon to send you on any major assignments, so you'll be with the others watching the castle."

Taylor felt a tad disappointed as Neil gave her a light smile and said, "Don't worry, you can train me some more," the black-haired woman beaming at the thought.

Meanwhile, Celeste picked out more tasks for the others, asking, "Izy, I know you haven't been here long, but I think you might be good enough for this. How do you feel about taking on a more advanced assignment?"

The brunette perked up and asked, "What kind of assignment?" the commander replying, "Well, normally I'd pick the high-ranking knights for this kind of job, but since I have other assignments for them, I figure I'll need three really good volunteers for this."

Izy nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement as the commander grinned and said, "Anyway, you are to help Mrs. Peterson deliver a magic stone to Moss Town. If Rose Kingdom gets their hands on it, there's no telling what they could do."

"Really?" Eric asked, "Magic stone is kind of vague. What kind of magic are we talking about?" Celeste tapping her chin and replying, "If memory serves me right, they said this one has destructive properties. That's all I really got."

"Then why does Moss Town want it?" Izy asked as one knight shrugged and added, "I hate to say it, but that's a good point. They're not at war with anyone."

"From what I can gather," Celeste replied, "they wish to seal it up so no one can use it. And, well, they do have the best security of any town, so the king's putting his faith in them."

"Whatever the case, I'm up for this," Izy said with a grin as Eric nodded and added, "Me too. You said you needed three volunteers, and I think this would be a great opportunity for me."

Seeing this, Will did not even wait for anyone else as he stated, "I, too, wish to partake in this task," Eric knowing why but saying nothing as Celeste blinked and said, "Well, good. That was easier than expected. But remember, this will be very difficult. I'd join you as well, but you know Henry wants me here at all times, so best of luck to you."

All three knights gave their commander and army salute before heading off, Will grinning and thinking, 'This is great. A long mission with Izy,' his mind then adding, 'Oh, and Eric.'

Meanwhile, in Rose Kingdom, everyone had received assignments of their own as Victoria had been given simple guard duties. The woman let out a sigh and groaned, "I'm never gonna get a real assignment, am I?"

"Look on the bright side," Iris replied, "At least maybe we can work together today."

However, this seemed like it might not be so when Clement said, "Now, Iris, it probably seems crazy to do this, but you showed so much promise in your initiation test that I think you might actually be ready."

The woman was now curious as he added, "See, we've received a report that a very powerful magic stone is being transported to Moss Town. I want you to intercept it and get the magic stone for us."

Victoria gasped as she said, "Wait, that sounds really hard. You should send someone else to go with her," the commander replying, "Well, yes, I was going to suggest that she bring a partner with her."

"In that case, I choose Victoria," Iris replied as the other knights stared in shock. The fact that she would just choose the princess out of the blue like that was insane. Why would someone of her status even agree to such a thing?

However, they were even more surprised when the princess beamed and stood next to her, Clement asking, "You sure about that, Iris? This is the princess we're talking about here," the man all the while thinking, 'I can't send her off. Richard would have my head.'

However, it seemed there was no changing the violet-haired woman's mind as she nodded and replied, "I am more than certain that Victoria will be the perfect ally for me. Now if you don't mind, I should probably start this task soon, should I not?"

Clement looked back and forth between her and Victoria, the princess' eyes sparkling as she had the biggest, most manipulative smile on her face. As a result, the man ultimately caved in and said, "Well, best of luck to the both of you, then," as he gave an army salute.

With all said and done, both teams set off, though would Victoria and Iris stand a chance against three knights, let alone the two earliest bloomers Duel Kingdom had? Was Iris really as amazing as Clement said she was? Whatever the case, this would be interesting.

During this time, Izy, Eric and Will had met up with a middle-aged woman with blue hair. This was, of course, Mrs. Peterson.

"Thank you so much for coming," the woman said before spotting Eric and bowing her head, the prince laughing nervously and uttering, "There's no need for formalities. Your safety is all that matters to me right now."

The woman blinked and replied, "That is very kind," Izy giving an army salute and adding, "You can count on us, ma'am!"

With all said and done, Peterson signalled her horses to pull a wagon full that held the stone. Of course, the stone was bound to the wagon under a cloth to protect it from potential thieves.

"Again, it really means a lot to have so much protection," Peterson said, "And to think the prince himself considers me worthy," Will simply grinning and saying, "Maybe you should give up on that equal treatment dream of yours. I don't think it's ever gonna happen."

"You may be right," Eric replied with a chuckle, "Still not giving up, though."

Deep down, it did feel good for Will to have a friendly conversation with the prince while not feeling like he had to be as polite as possible. And Izy was just happy that the two got along as well as they did. Sure, she had no idea both were competing for her, but good friendships always made her at least a little happy.

However, the conversation came to a close when suddenly, a group of bandits leapt out from the bushes and headed toward the back of the wagon, one shouting, "WHATEVER'S IN THERE MUST BE WORTH A FORTUNE!"

But just as Peterson started to look worried, Eric raced to one side of the wagon while Izy and Will ran to the other with their gauntlets at the ready. Once the bandits were close enough, Eric exclaimed, "ALRIGHT, ACTIVATE YOUR GAUNTLETS NOW!"

With that, all three pressed their hands up against the gems on their gauntlets and formed a big magical field around themselves, the wagon and the bandits. The thieves were stopped when each one pulled out the talisman on the top of his or her deck and placed it onto the middle square. Izy wound up summoning her Whip Snake while Eric brought out knight in dark-blue armour wielding two lances named Ganbara Lancer. Will, meanwhile, summoned a short man with spiky green hair made of crystals and shining green armour named Gemini Soldier.

Granted, Eric and Will's warriors had low attack power, but it hardly mattered as humans could easily be killed by one hit from a demon powered up by the magic of the gems. As such, the bandits froze in their tracks as Eric put on a serious look and said, "Surrender now and your lives will be spared!"

"And no funny business, either!" Izy exclaimed, though both felt a little bad about making death threats. Sure, they were mostly against killing in general, but even threatening someone's life was something they would rather not resort to.

But it worked as the bandits had no gauntlets of their own and were therefor unable to defend themselves. As such, they dropped their knives and waved their hands in front of their faces defensively.

Will then took a deep breath and said, "I think it's safe to drop the field. But keep your fingers near the gems anyway in case they try to trick us."

He deliberately said this loud enough for the bandits to hear so they would know that the knights were prepared for any kind of sneak attack. As such, they gave up for good, and when the magic field was dropped, they all fled for their lives. As much as they wanted to be rich, dying was not worth it.

Peterson breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you," Izy grinning cutely and replying, "All in a day's work."

"Yeah, you're in good hands, ma'am," Will replied, not even stopping to think about it was him standing next to Izy during the rescue and not Eric.

But when he turned to take a look at the brunette, he noticed her nuzzling Whip Snake's talisman up against her cheek and cooing, "Who's a good boy? You're a good boy!" the man finding this beyond adorable. Most knights would have found this weird, but Will was not what one would call normal.

With the threat taken care of, Peterson was ready to have her wagon take off again as Will asked, "So this is what the higher-ups have to deal with? Aside from the occasional run-in with that cloaked guy, they must have it easy."

"Well, I'm sure they've probably run into a knight or two," Eric replied, "Don't forget, escorting someone can take a long time. And if anything, the walk can certainly ware us down."

"Oh my," Peterson gasped, "Would you knights like to ride on the side of the wagon?" Eric laughing and replying, "I wasn't complaining. I was just saying," Izy adding, "Yeah, this is good exercise for us."

'Speak for yourselves,' Will thought when he remembered something and said, "Hold on, I've heard there's a way that the Rose Kingdom soldiers get to our land so quickly, and apparently, this method is used to ward off dangerous animals."

"What's that?" Eric asked as Will replied, "It's simple. What they do is summon a demon from a talisman and ride it like a steed."

"Well, I'll see if anyone would want to give me a ride first," Izy said as Eric and Will both gave her an awkward look, neither one having the heart to remind her that demons summoned from their talismans had to serve their owners no matter what.

However, Izy specifically went with her most trusted demons, specifically her Performapals. Among those she had summoned before, there were a few others, such as a shy pink mole with a cheerleader outfit and pom-poms named Cheermole, a purple cat with a trampoline for a back named Trampolynx and a red scorpion with pink shields in exchange for pincers and cylindrical gift boxes making up her tail named Kaleidoscorp.

'How did she manage to summon all of them with only five spaces?' Will thought before noticing she had not even set more than five talismans. Was there something to the magic of the gems that no one knew about? Summoning this many at once should not have been possible, let along in accordance with the rules of the magic field.

Whatever the case, Izy smiled bright and said, "Hi, guys," while the others surprisingly waved back, even Cheermole who gave a light wave before holding her pom-poms over her face and blushing.

'Wait, they actually responded to a greeting as opposed to an order?' Will thought, 'Wow, Izy's amazing. Unless-'

Will then summoned an orange wasp with butterfly wings made of fire named Blazewing Butterfly and said, "Hello," the demon not responding as he tilted his head to the side, thinking, 'I guess no one else can do it.'

And it seemed so as Eric had summoned Unicorn Spear and was trying his best to get the pegasus to respond to a simple greeting. The only time the demon responded was when he told her to, making this even more confusing.

Whatever the case, Izy had their attention as she said, "Look, guys, I know you're bound by the gems to follow orders, but I'm giving you a choice here. I would greatly appreciate it if one of you could carry me on my trip to Moss Town. Does anyone wish to volunteer?"

Cheermole was too shy and as such, she simply trembled as Izy smiled sweetly and said, "Aw, it's okay. You don't have to say yes," the mole letting down a light tear and nodding in understanding.

'My god, does she have an actual friendship with them?' Will thought as the mosquito with the boat for a torso, Skeeter Skimmer, shook his head and drew on the dirt that he needed water to move at his best.

Swordfish simply turned his head far enough to look at his blade-like body and knew that Izy would get cut if she rode on his back. The very thought terrified him and thus he knew he had no choice but to refuse such a request.

The rest were more than happy, though, as Izy noticed Whip Snake was especially eager. However, she simply stroked his cheek and said, "Sorry, buddy, but you already chased off some bad guys for me. I think you deserve a rest."

The snake seemed fine with this reasoning as he nodded and pointed at Hip Hippo as if to imply he was the best choice. With that in mind, Izy gave a light smile and said, "Well, if you say so."

With that in mind, the brunette returned the others to their talismans and hopped onto her hippo's back, Will uttering, "Did you see that, Eric? They weren't forced into agreeing to her request. That was a conscious decision."

"I know," the prince replied with a smile, "Izy's amazing, isn't she?" Will sighing, "Yeah."

Peterson had no idea what the big deal was but was happy that the knights would not have to exhaust themselves for her sake. As such, she signalled her horses to pull the wagon as the group carried on.

Eric and Izy both turned to Will who had his arms wrapped around his wasp's neck and his legs latched to her tail so his body would not be in contact with the demon's wings. Will looked back and forth, asking, "What?" as Izy asked, "Don't you think it would have been easier to pick something that can't potentially burn you while you're riding it?"

"Well, yeah, but all of my other fighters are humans," the man replied, "It would feel awkward having to ride them," before glaring at seemingly nothing and adding, "Not in that way, you perverts."

But unbeknownst to them, Iris and Victoria were getting close. This time, Victoria chose an old man with a green shirt made of cloth and a black mask over his face named Elder of the Six Samurai. The reason she chose him was because he rode in a carriage with mechanical spider-like legs to help it move. It also had a crossbow on each side of it in case anyone were to attack.

Iris rode on the back of a grey demonic lizard clad in red armour named Scarr, Scout of the Dark World. Victoria had to admit that for Iris to have such a demon did come as a shock.

"So, where did you find this legendary Dark World creature," Victoria asked as Iris replied, "I found them in an ancient ruin. They were hidden behind a stone wall, but I got lucky when when the stone protecting it crumbled off as a result of a earthquake."

'An earthquake?' the princess thought, 'I don't remember anything like that happening in recent years,' before shrugging and adding, "So, I guess you have others in your deck, huh?"

"Yep, my whole deck is made up of the talismans I found in that ruin," Iris replied, "It was easy figuring them out. You just look at the instructions on the talismans and you can use them to your advantage with ease."

That description combined with her constant neutral look and voice made this all come off as creepy, but Victoria did not mind. Despite only having known this woman for less than a day's time, she had already gotten used to it.

After a while, Iris spotted the wagon and pointed, saying, "Look, there's the magic stone."

Victoria looked and asked, "You sure that's what's being carried?" Iris nodding and replying, "Yes. The cloth is shaped like a stone."

Victoria noticed three knights and thought, 'But if she's wrong, we'll just end up wasting time and damage points.'

However, the moment the princess spotted Eric among the trio, her eyes widened as she narrowed her eyelids and said, "Alright, Iris, let's do this."

Her violet-haired friend nodded as the two headed toward the wagon, strapping on their gauntlets. However, Izy and Eric heard this as both stood on the side the attackers were coming from. And when Will spotted this, he very quickly joined them as all three activated the magic field at the exact moment Victoria and Iris were close enough.

The demons returned to their respective decks now that a duel had been initiated.

"Victoria?" Eric asked as Will and Izy gasped, "Oh my god, it really is her!"

"That's right, Eric," Victoria growled, "You didn't think you'd seen the last of me, did you?"

"Not really, but I didn't think we'd face again so soon," the prince replied with a grin, "Though it seems even with an ally, you are still outnumbered."

"It hardly matters," Iris replied as Izy asked, "Hey, wait, how is this going to work?"

The prince blinked and turned to Will, asking, "That's a good question. How does three against two work in a magic duel?"

"It's actually very similar to a two-on-two duel," Will replied, "The only difference is that the first one who goes on their side gets an extra turn before our cycle ends."

"Oh, I get it," Izy replied with a smile as Eric scratched the back of his head, saying, "I can't say it makes perfect sense to me, but hey, if I can figure out two-on-two without past experience, I can get this."

"Are you done talking?" Victoria asked as Iris nodded and said, "We have a job to do. I'd rather get this taken care of quickly."

"Oh my god, your partner's creepy," Will uttered as Victoria grinned and replied, "Yeah, but that makes Iris awesome," the violet-haired woman blushing lightly and uttering, "I'm awesome?" her expression and voice still sounding the same regardless.

Either way, this duel was certain to be an interesting one. Could Izy and her friends possibly defeat these two? After all, it was three against two. The odds were stacked heavily in their favour, right?

Note: Though in all honesty, that has never worked for me. Even ten hours has never been enough to prepare me for a whole midnight shift.


	25. Chapter 25

With Victoria and Iris suited up and each knight holding five talismans, it was just about time to start the duel. All the while, Mrs. Peterson was beyond nervous, hoping that her knights could win. After all, if what they said was true and one of these two enemies was the princess of Rose Kingdom, this could prove to be very difficult.

"Alright," Victoria said with a sigh, "You three technically started the duel, so you get to decide who goes first," Iris sighing, "I think that rule is stupid. We should decide with a coin flip or something."

The princess' eyes widened until she noticed Iris' arm was still intact. It seemed questioning the rules was okay just as long as a duellist did not violate them.

Eric then took a deep breath while Izy and Will looked at him, the prince directing his hand toward Victoria and saying, "I think you shall go first, princess."

"You sure about that?" the princess asked with a smirk as the man nodded and replied, "It would seem right that I go first after you did last time, but since I was the winner, I think this is fair."

The princess thought about this as Iris turned to her and said, "I would like to go first," Victoria blinking as her violet-haired friend gave her a thumb up, her same neutral expression still on her face.

The princess looked nervous until Eric shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Well, if you agree, I'll be more than okay with that," as Iris' mouth shifted to a tiny smile, Victoria grinning and replying, "Well, I haven't seen you in action yet, so go ahead."

With that in mind, Iris' normal look returned as she wasted no time placing a talisman into a slot and saying, "I start with Dark World Dealings."

The others look confused until she explained, "This allows each of us to draw a talisman in exchange for one from our hand," as one talisman flew into each knight's hand.

While Eric and Will seemed to have no trouble picking which talisman to discard, Izy, Victoria and Iris were taking their time. Izy, especially, was having trouble only because she did not wish to do away with any of the talismans in her hand, the brunette biting her lower lip.

'Forgive me for this,' she thought as she discarded her Trampolynx, 'I'm so sorry, girl. I really was hoping to use you at some point.'

Victoria eventually picked a talisman of her own as Iris discarded one in particular. Suddenly, that very talisman flew out of her graveyard and onto the middle square of her gauntlet, a black skeleton-like demon with black armour and a blade coming out of the side of his right hand taking form. With big crow-like wings attached to his shoulders like a cape, this was Sillva, Warlord of the Dark World.

"What just happened?" Will asked as Iris stated, "The talisman I chose to discard was my Sillva, and when he's sent to the graveyard by the effect of another talisman, I can special summon him from my graveyard. He has a second effect, but that only works if my opponent sends him into the graveyard."

Needless to say, this was a bad sign. As if summoning something high in level this early in the duel was not intimidating enough, this one's power was quite high. It would be difficult to match blows with this demon.

'So that's why she decided to go first,' Victoria thought with a grin, 'Clever.'

"And since he was special summoned, I can also perform a normal summon," Iris explained as she placed another talisman next to Sillva, bringing forth what looked like a white armoured stingray with a red back, feet and hands, the violet-haired woman adding, "This is my Card Guard. When he is summoned, I can add a guard counter to him that raises his attack power by three hundred."

This seemed so as a dark aura surrounded the demon. Needless to say, this woman was already proving to be a pain as she set a talisman into a slot and ended her turn.

Izy's turn came next as she drew a talisman, looking over her hand, Eric and Will both grinning at her. They just knew she had some way to turn this in their favour. There was no doubt in their mind.

"Alright, I got it," Izy said with a smirk as Peterson breathed a sigh of relief, Eric saying, "Alright, make us proud."

With that in mind, the brunette proceeded to summon her Performapal Whip Snake, the cobra taking form as Victoria blinked and asked, "Is that it?"

"You underestimate my Whip Snake," Izy replied with a smirk, "See, once per turn, I can target one demon my opponent controls and switch its attack and defence."

Now the princess was actually nervous as Iris uttered, "That's so cool," her eyes sparkling.

And with that in mind, Whip Snake gazed into Sillva's eyes as the demon narrowed his eyelids, Izy explaining, "You see, one thing I noticed about both of your demons is that while their attack power is high, their defence power is incredibly weak in comparison. For someone like Whip Snake, this is easy to take advantage of."

However, it seemed Iris was prepared as she tapped the talisman she had set earlier, saying, "I now activate Threatening Roar. Now you can't declare an attack this turn."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'Wow, she's incredible. Just from one turn, she's already given us a major advantage.'

Izy then bit her lower lip and sighed, "Alright, I guess I'll end with this," as she placed three talismans into slots, tapping one of them.

The active one caused a box to appeared in her spell zone as the other knights were rather curious, Izy saying nothing about this as she said, "And with that, I end my turn."

"Easy does it with the spells, there," Eric said as Will rose an eyebrow, "If I'm not mistaken, all three of us are sharing this side of the field, meaning if both of us combined were to set five spells, Will here wouldn't be able to use any."

Izy looked concerned until Will asked, "What, you don't trust that her spells will be of any use?" as the prince laughed nervously and uttered, "Of course not. That's not what I was saying at all."

Even so, he was right. With all three sharing the same side of the field, it could be very easy for just two of them to fill it up, leaving the third duellist with no other options than to use whatever moves they had already set up. And under certain circumstances, that could be very inconvenient.

It was now Victoria's turn as she drew her next Talisman, grinning at Iris and saying, "I won't let that trap of yours go to waste," while Izy exclaimed, "Before you can start, I use Whip Snake's effect on Sillva again!"

Now even Iris was shocked as the snake gazed into Sillva's eyes, his attack once again switched with his defence. All the while, Victoria's eye twitched as she asked, "Wait, you mean that power doesn't just work during your turn?"

"That's right," Izy replied with a grin, "It works during either of our turns. Needless to say, it's really useful."

"Too bad that Card Guard can still defeat it, though," Will sighed as Eric shrugged and replied, "True, but Sillva would have dealt far worst direct damage before, right?" the other man saying, "Good point."

Victoria then took a deep breath and said, "Whatever the case, it's still not enough to protect you," as she started up with a spell, drawing a new talisman and saying, "With Reinforcements of the Army, I can add a warrior at level four or lower to my hand."

She then proceeded to activate another, adding, "Now I activate The A Forces," Eric gulping, "Careful. This raises the attack power of all warriors she controls by two hundred."

Izy nodded in understanding as the princess proceeded to summon a man dressed in green armour, a square-shaped helmet of the same colour and wielding a big sword with a white and orange blade. This was Legendary Six Samurai Enishi, and his power was very high.

Seeing as his level matched that of Card Guard, the princess asked, "Hey, Iris, do you mind if I use your Card Guard as an overlay unit?" Izy and her friends in great panic as the violet-haired woman nodded and replied, "I was planning to do more, but I'd like to see what you have in mind."

With that in mind, both the warrior and the demon transformed into balls of light and combined together. Once the brighter light faded, the red samurai, Shien, had taken form as the princess thought, 'I'm finally using him against an enemy. I'm not making the same mistakes I did last time.'

"Oh, this just got complicated," Will uttered as Izy bit her lower lip, feeling a little nervous now. After all, if she and her friends failed, who was to say Peterson would live?

"Alright, this just got even better," Victoria said with a smirk as she had Shien charge toward Whip Snake. But just as he was about to strike, Izy activated her first talisman and exclaimed, "I now activate A Hero Emerges!"

"What is that?" Victoria asked as Will said, "Hey, I've heard of that spell. The opponent chooses a talisman in your hand and if it's a demon, you can special summon it before her demon attacks, right?"

"That's right," Izy replied with a grin as the princess thought, 'Oh no, that means I have to be really careful with which one I pick. It's between two, but how do I know which one isn't a demon?'

Iris took a deep breath and sighed, "I have a feeling they're both demons, so you can't really be right here," Izy having this wide-eyed expression as if to say 'how did she know that?'

The princess was thinking the same thing but let out a sigh and said, "Well, if it's a no-win situation, then I guess I'll pick that one," pointing at the one facing Izy's right-hand side, that particular talisman slapping itself onto the square next to Whip Snake.

Thus a man dressed in armour that resembled a white tiger named Terratiger, the Empowered Warrior was summoned as he struck a fighting pose. Iris simply blinked and uttered, "That demon is cool," Victoria sighing, "And too strong for Sillva right now."

With that in mind, Shien continued his attack and sliced open Whip Snake, sending the cobra into the graveyard. Now Will and Eric were worried again, hoping Izy had more planned.

Shien then proceeded to strike Izy's armour, bringing her team's damage points down to three thousand. However, it seemed the brunette had a plan as she smirked and said, "Nice try, but you can't get rid of my Whip Snake that easily."

With that, she activated one of her talismans, exclaiming, "I now use Performapal Revival to bring back my Whip Snake!" the other four knights and Peterson looking rather surprised.

At that moment, a big box appeared with blades jabbed into it. However, when the top came off and it sprang open on all sides, Whip Snake took form as he used his tail to pick up his hat while he gave a bow to the enemies, Izy shouting, "TAH-DAH!"

Iris gave the brunette a light clap as Victoria gave her the most awkward stare. The violet-haired woman then stopped clapping and took a deep breath, her expression not changing for a second.

With all said and done, Victoria's turn came to a close as she said, "Alright, Eric, let's see what you have in store," the prince grinning and replying, "Well, thanks to Izy, I'm sure things are going to be alright for us."

'I have to admit, she has at least set up some impressive moves, but will that really be enough?' the princess thought as Eric drew a talisman and proceeded to summon a demon in defence position, saying, "I hate to say it, Izy, but I get the feeling I might only be able to defeat one of those two demons this turn."

Izy grinned and replied, "Actually-" before whispering something into the prince's ear as he nodded and grinned, saying, "Well, you've put up a powerful struggle, but now the tides have turned," Izy asking, "Hey, who should Whip Snake use his power on?"

Will was impressed by how well the two were currently working together as the prince said, "Well, Sillva seemed idea at first, but Shien is definitely a more worth-while target, especially with his defence being as low as four hundred."

Victoria's eyes were wide with shock as she thought, 'Oh no,' and thus the cobra gazed into the samurai's eyes and swapped his attack and defence.

"And now to make things even better for us!" Eric exclaimed as he discarded three of his talismans, Izy's box opening up as an assortment of balloons flew into the demons on Victoria and Iris' side, trapping them in place.

"What did you just do?" Victoria asked as Izy smirked and explained, "This is the power of my Wonder Balloons spell. With this spell in play, the user can discard as many talismans from his or her hand as he or she wants. For each talisman, a balloon counter is placed on this spell thus reducing the attack power of all opposing demons by three hundred, and right now, Eric just fed it three counters, meaning your Sillva is now officially weak enough to be beaten by Whip Snake."

Even Iris felt a tad frightened but refused to show it while Eric activated Warrior Returning Alive to bring one of the talismans he had discarded back to his hand. However, what mattered now was that Iris and Victoria were both vulnerable, especially with Shien's power at zero.

With Shien weakened so significantly, Terratiger charged at him and punched him repeatedly in the gut. This sent him flying into Victoria's graveyard as the warrior proceeded to strike her armour, reducing her team's damage points to twenty-two hundred.

'I can't believe this,' the princess thought with gritted teeth, 'He was hard enough to take down before, but that girl is only making this more difficult.'

And it only got worse for the princess from there as Whip Snake leapt off the ground, performing a vertical flip toward Sillva and striking him in the forehead. With the demon now in Iris' graveyard, the violet-haired woman took a whack to her armour as her damage points dropped to nineteen hundred, Peterson breathing a sigh of relief.

"That was awesome!" Eric exclaimed as he and Izy gave one-another a high five, Will thinking, 'Oh my god, maybe they are perfect for each-other.'

However, while Victoria was in extreme panic now, Iris still looked calm as her turn came, the woman drawing a talisman and saying, "Don't worry. I have this."

With that, she started her turn by activating the spell Monster Reborn. With this, she chose to return Sillva to the field as Victoria asked, "Wouldn't you rather use my Shien for this?"

"I was considering it, but I don't think it's the best idea," Iris replied as she then summoned a demon in defence position, set a talisman into a slot and ended her turn.

"Wait, why didn't you-?" Victoria uttered before remembering Whip Snake's effect and thinking, 'Oh, right.'

Will took a deep breath and thought, 'Okay, now it's my turn to shine,' as he drew a talisman. A grin formed on his face as Eric said, "Hey, my defending demon isn't very useful. If you need him for non-combat reasons, feel free to use him."

'That's right,' Will thought, 'We're friends now. As long as we're fighting together, we're a team.'

With that in mind, the man activated his Double Summon spell, Victoria groaning, "Oh no, this guy has some useful talismans too."

"That's right, and the first demon I choose to summon is Featherizer," the man stated with a grin as he summoned a blue man with feather-shaped ears, a green and yellow robe and blade-like feathers protruding out of his neck like the blades of a windmill.

"What is that supposed to accomplish?" Victoria asked as Will and Eric nodded at one-another. With this in mind, Will placed another talisman on top of Featherizer as he and Eric's defending demon were both sent to the graveyard.

In their place stood a knight clad in white and red armour. With a big shield that resembled a wolf's head and a mighty blade, this warrior was Phoenix Gearfried, Will's most powerful warrior.

"Okay, if you have something else planned, now's the time to use it," Victoria uttered as Iris sighed, "Well, I do have something that can keep them at bay."

With that, Will started things up by having Whip Snake switch Sillva's attack and defence again. He then had Gearfried charge at the demon, slicing him open as he flew into Iris' graveyard. And it did not end there as the violet-haired woman took in a strike to her armour, her damage points now down to five hundred.

But just as Will was about to continue, Iris activated her set talisman and said, "Now I use Gateway to the Dark World in order to bring Sillva back."

"Wait, what?" Will uttered as the demon once again returned, his attack power now back to normal as Victoria gasped, "Is that why you chose him specifically?"

Iris nodded and explained, "See, Gateway to the Dark World is a quick-play spell that only works on demons from the dark world. It brings them back, but in exchange, I can't summon any other demons for the remainder of the turn, meaning if I had a second copy of the spell in my hand, I wouldn't be able to use it." *

"So you used it during my turn so you wouldn't have to deal with the spell's downside," Will uttered as Iris nodded and replied, "Exactly."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'Well, this does keep us safe,' and it seemed to work even better as Will did not even bother with the defending demon and simply ended his turn.

"Sorry, guys," Will groaned as Eric asked, "What are you apologizing for? Look how close to defeat they are! You dealt all that damage with little to no effort!"

Will's eyes widened as he grinned and said, "Yeah, I guess I did," Izy equally happy. Though she also hoped that this advantage would last. After all, this was still a serious duel with lives and a magic stone on the line.

As Victoria's turn started and she drew her next talisman, Izy wasting no time having Whip Snake switch Sillva's attack and defence. But as the princess gritted her teeth, she noticed she had drawn something really good, but it would require her to destroy Iris' demons.

As such, she turned to her partner and asked, "Hey, Iris, do you need your demons out?"

The violet-haired woman shook her head and replied, "I would say yes, but if it helps turn the tides in our favour, I'm more than open to your idea."

With that in mind, Victoria grinned and replied, "Thanks," before setting a talisman into a slot and activating it, saying, "You've done well up to this point, really well, but this time, Eric, even with the help of your allies, you will fall! And it's all thanks to the might of my Dark Hole!"

"OH NO, NOT THAT SPELL!" Will cried out in terror as a big black hole formed in the middle of the magic field.

Even Izy was terrified out of her mind as each and every demon and warrior on the field was sucked in. Phoenix Gearfried, Whip Snake and Terratiger were now in the graveyard, and with no set traps, this left Izy, Eric and Will completely defenceless.

However, the black hole had also destroyed Iris' demons as Victoria uttered, "Sorry about that," Iris asking, "Why are you sorry? You just made things easier for us."

'That's right,' she thought with a grin, 'I did. I made the most logical move I could have under these circumstances. I didn't make any foolish mistakes this time.'

With this in mind, the woman added, "And now I activate my next spell, Monster Reborn! And I use it to return Shien to the field!"

Now things looked really bad as the warrior took form. And with Whip Snake gone, he was an even bigger threat than before.

"Oh, and don't forget, I still have a normal summon left," the princess stated as she placed a talisman next to her warrior. This brought forth a man with a big blade and long black hair in a ponytail. He also sported a pair of black shoulder pads and sported a red cape, Victoria saying, "This is Shien's Daredevil, the perfect ally for my demon hero."

And before Izy, Eric or Will could even process what was going on, both warrior headed toward Eric specifically and struck his armour with their blades. And with that, his team's damage points dropped to zero as all three suits of armour came open and fell to the ground.

Eric coughed up a bit of blood and fell on his back while Izy and Will turned to him and gasped in fear and alarm. Things had gone so well for them and yet in one simple move, it had all come crashing down. In short, the knights had failed and were now about to suffer the consequences.

Note: And in case you're wondering, yeah, that 'no other summons' rule applies to every form of summoning, meaning this limitation does exist. I point this out because I've heard of lots of people trying to use this spell twice on the same turn.


	26. Chapter 26

This was it. There was nothing Izy and her friends could do now. The duel was over and no only would they likely be killed, but the magic stone would be stolen for sure.

Mrs. Peterson breathed heavily, her eyes wide in disbelief. Her protectors had come so close to victory. How could this happen?

'I can't believe it,' Victoria thought with a proud grin on her face, 'Sure, I needed help, but I wiped the floor with Eric! This is the best day of my life! And now to exact my revenge for the humiliation he caused me!'

However, just as it seemed she would send Shien to stab him, Izy stood in the way and shouted, "STOP!" Will gasping as he snapped, "What are you doing!?"

"Yeah, like he said, what are you doing?" Eric reiterated as Izy growled and said, "Duel Kingdom needs their prince! If anyone's going to die today, it's not gonna be you!"

"Look, I've done everything I set off to do today," Victoria stated with a serious look in her eyes, "but there's one thing I'd added to that list that wasn't there before, and that's my revenge on Prince Eric for humiliating me! If you don't step aside, I'll take you down with him!"

Iris stared at the princess, feeling confused. Her face did not show it, as usual, but she still wondered how serious Victoria was about this.

However, it seemed Izy's life might very well be spared as Eric slowly rose to his feet and placed his hand on her shoulder, sighing, "Look, Izy, I appreciate what you're doing, but this is a personal matter between the two of us. We lost and if I'm the one she wants, I'm ready to face the consequences for my failure. If she's willing to spare your life, you should take it."

Izy was about to protest, even Will finding this ridiculous. But even so, they could tell that the prince had made up his mind as he held his arms out and said, "Alright, Victoria, go ahead. I'm ready for this."

It was not as if he disagreed with Izy, but he knew this was the only way to save his friends. After all, they were all trapped in the magic field, so it was not as if Eric could just flee from the area.

But just as Victoria was about to give the order for Shien to attack, her eyes widened as she suddenly felt a great deal of regret. Despite wanting to be a knight, despite knowing what the job entailed, something about ending a life just felt wrong to her, even if it was the life of the one who had ruined her plan entirely.

"On second thought, I will spare you this time," the princess said as she pressed her hand up against her gem and cancelled out the magic field, Iris feeling a tad relieved. Deep down, she felt the same.

"I don't understand," Eric uttered as Victoria replied, "Don't get the wrong idea. I fully intend to end your life someday, but this doesn't feel right. I didn't defeat you by myself. I won with help from a very good friend."

Iris gave her a light smile as she added, "Next time we meet, I'll defeat you by myself and with my own skills. Then I will feel satisfaction from taking your life."

As confusing as this was, the prince was beyond relieved as he fell to his knees and breathed heavily. Sure, he said he was ready for this, but deep down, that was the most terrifying moment of his life. And while he breathed, Will and Izy both knelt down next to him and patted him on the shoulders.

On the upside, no one had died today. But on the other hand, there was no one who could stop the princess and her ally from taking the magic stone from the back of the wagon. And with the item in their hands, they summoned their demons to take them back to Rose Kingdom, neither saying another word.

But while Izy felt fortunate to be alive, she actually took this loss worst of all. Sure, she was no stranger to loss, but this was the first time she had failed at an assignment. How could she face Celeste now? She had been eager to take this job, but now she felt as if she had let the whole kingdom down.

With the stone gone, Peterson offered to take the knights back to town on her wagon. She figured it was the least she could do after they went to so much trouble for her, especially after the prince almost sacrificed his life.

During this time, Neil had finished a practice duel with Taylor and was truly amazed by how close he had come to beating her. Ultimately, she had gotten him to surrender by bringing his damage points down to one hundred, but he had managed to bring hers to eight hundred. And what was more was that he had an audience and still managed to pull it off.

"You think Taylor was holding back?" one whispered as another replied, "Oh no, when she trains with people, she goes all-out. Doesn't matter who it is."

Taylor grinned and gave Neil a hug, exclaiming, "You did such a good job today!" the blond knight blushing lightly as he uttered, "Well, you helped a lot with that."

At that moment, some of the other guys walked over to Neil as one said, "Keep that up and you might get your first win," another adding, "Personally, I think you should have won, especially with that golden dragon of yours."

"I never knew your deck had such cool demons in it," a female knight stated as Taylor grinned, the black-haired woman happy to see Neil finally get some recognition.

All the while Celeste had received plenty of reports from many of her knights, thinking, 'It's weird to think I might not get a report from Izy and Eric today. It's not often that one of their rank gets an escort quest.'

Unfortunately, she would get that request sooner than later as Peterson had pulled up in town with all three knights dismounting from the wagon. The woman then gave them all a sweet smile and said, "Don't be so hard on yourselves, okay? You did the best you could."

Izy had her face stuck in a horrified expression throughout the whole trip and it was still yet to change. Will and Eric, however, were at least able to emote as Will sighed, "Thanks, Mrs. Peterson."

With all said and done, the trio slowly headed toward the castle. Eric noticed Izy's expression but was unable to ask if she was alright. After all, he knew exactly what she was going through. He was taking this loss almost as hard as she was.

And soon enough, the trio arrived at the castle, Celeste looking up and saying, "Wow, you're back-" only to notice they were in their undergarments as she uttered, "Oh."

Eric seemed unwilling to talk while Izy still had the same lifeless expression on her face, Will saying, "Well, we were attacked by the princess of Rose Kingdom and her ally and they beat us and took the magic stone."

'The princess?' Celeste thought, 'So she's interfering again.'

The commander took a deep breath and asked, "How about the client?" Will replying, "She's perfectly fine. The attackers had no interest in her whatsoever."

"Well, that's good to know," Celeste replied, "Thank you. You are dismissed."

While she tried not to show it, Celeste was worried about Izy right now. That look on her face was not something she was used to. Where was all that positivity? Where was all that determination? She had never let a loss get to her before, so why now was this such a big deal?

Meanwhile, Victoria and Iris had returned to Rose Kingdom to deliver their own news along with the magic stone. Clement had a big smile on his face, the biggest anyone had ever seen from him as he said, "You know what? I was wrong about you, Victoria. You really are amazing. Your father will be so happy when he sees what you brought back!"

The princess beam with pride as Iris nodded and said, "Yes, Victoria was great. She dealt the finishing blow."

'Okay, you're pushing it, but thanks,' the princess thought as Clement said, "Well, this more than makes up for your blunder yesterday, so good job. You're both dismissed."

With that in mind, the man walked off with the stone in hand as Iris said, "What a dork. He only cares about results," Victoria snickering, "Yeah."

But even if Iris' words were true, Victoria still felt beyond happy to have received praise for her work. This was her first real assignment and she had succeeded. Not only that, but she had more-or-less defeated the prince.

Meanwhile, Izy had chosen to distance herself from the others. In fact, she had gone to a place no knight had ever gone before, specifically the roof of the castle. She simply sat on the edge and looked out at the town, thinking about how she had let down one of its citizens.

She looked back to their return to the kingdom, and how Peterson had assured them that she was okay. However, when she said this, all Izy could hear was "Wow, you're the biggest loser I've ever met! Why they'd hire someone like you as a knight is beyond me!" while all she could see was the biggest, most frightening scowl anyone could possibly have.

However, at that exact moment, Will entered the area and sat next to her. He simply smiled lightly at her and gave her a light wave, the brunette turning to him briefly before looking at the town again.

"You know, I've never been up here before," Will said with a grin, "The air's nice. I should come here more often."

He then turned to Izy and nudged her, asking, "Am I right?" only for the woman to ignore him, her expression having not changed in the slightest.

'Wow, this is awkward,' Will thought before taking a deep breath and saying, "Alright, fine. I won't avoid the issue any longer."

The man then proceeded to take hold of Izy's shoulder, forcing her to face him as he exclaimed, "Snap out of it! What happened to that strong woman who would get over any loss and try to better herself!? Because right now, I don't see her!"

"But this wasn't an initiation duel," Izy uttered with the same deadpan look in her eyes, "This was to save to help the kingdom. This was a serious duel, one that we couldn't afford to lose."

Will was about to retort when the brunette added, "I think maybe they were right. Perhaps circus performer shouldn't be a knight. Such an idea is just stupid."

"No it's not!" Will retort with a sigh, "Izy, ever since you were accepted, you have pretty much exceeded everyone's expectations of you! Even I didn't think you'd be that great, but look at you! You've managed to put five Rose Kingdom soldiers in prison within less than a week. Each time, you fought on a team and yet from what I can gather, you did the most work."

Izy did not seem to care as he added, "And today, we came close to winning because of you. I'm not just saying that, either. You pretty much set up most of those moves we pulled off."

"Yes, but coming close isn't the same as actually winning," Izy uttered as Will took a deep breath and said, "You think you're the only one to fail and live to tell about it? Look at Neil. That duel last night was not the only one he's lost. That guy has lost every single duel he's been in. He lost the initiation test and yet somehow was deemed worthy of the army and until last night, he had never so much as landed a blow on an opponent before. But did he quit because of it? No. He's still going to great lengths to better himself, even if he has to rely on help."

Izy's expression had started to change a bit as the man added, "And look at me. I've lost to at least ten knights from Rose Kingdom. And believe me, my first loss was not an easy one. Though unlike you, I lost my first duel."

Izy gasped as the man added, "It's true. I went through a phase where I didn't think I was worthy of being a knight either, but some of the guys convinced me to stick around. And I got better. Instead of letting my losses get to me, I used them as motivational tools to help me get stronger. I know you can do the same. You always did that before. When you faced Celeste, you surprised everyone. You barely dealt any damage, but you still drew out her strongest talisman, something no one has ever done before. So I don't wanna hear you talk about how much of a loser you are, because you are no loser."

Izy took a deep breath before reaching her arms around the man. Will's eyes widened as the brunette pulled him closer for a hug, a light smile on her face as she said, "Thank you," giving him a light peck on the cheek.

The man's cheeks turned bright pink as she said, "Geez, I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, letting one loss get to me!? What is wrong with me!?"

Will grinned and said, "There's the Izy I know," the brunette adding, "Besides, it's not anyone died. Our job is to protect people, so our client's safety should always be top priority."

And with that, the woman headed into a door that led inside of the castle while Will breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed as if things were finally looking up again.

Or at least they were for Izy. Eric, on the other hand, was still a little down on himself. Sure, he was not taking the loss as bad as Izy had, but he still had similar feelings about the whole thing.

As such, he turned to the only people he could count on right now. And as the boy approached the door to their room, he took a deep breath, feeling rather pathetic to have resorted to this. After making such a big fuss about being a knight, he was about to talk about how he had failed his duties.

He slowly entered as Henry blinked and said, "Hello, son. I wasn't expecting you back yet," Esmeralda nodding and adding, "Oh yes, those escort quests can take a long time to complete."

"Well, about that," Eric replied with a sigh before telling them the whole story.

The prince expected his father to reconsider letting him remain a knight, and yet surprisingly, he took this better than the queen. In fact, the man simply ruffled his son's hair and said, "Well, the important this is nobody was killed, right?"

"But Rose Kingdom has the magic stone now!" Eric exclaimed, "And all because we couldn't keep it safe!"

"Look, that is distressing to think about, but you did the best you could," Henry said, "Did you know Celeste has lost a total of fifteen duels since her career as a knight started?"

"Fifteen?" the prince asked, his eyes wide with shock, "But how is that possible!? She's the commander! How could someone with such a poor track record-?"

"What matters is that she got much better as she went along," Esmeralda replied with a warm smile, "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Always remember that. You lost, but you lived to tell about it. If anything, you shouldn't be crying to us about it. You should be using this as motivation to improve your skills."

The prince stared blankly as Henry sighed, "Son, part of being a knight is being prepared for failure. Yes, it can cost you during a war, but if the enemy hasn't won that war, you can simply get up and try again."

The prince blink as Esmeralda patted her husband on the shoulder and said, "Your father's right. You may have lost the battle, but you, no, the entire kingdom is yet to lose the war."

"You're right," Eric said with a nod of his head, "I hadn't thought about that, but I guess you're right."

With that, he took a deep breath and added, "Well, thanks. I'm sure I can continue my duties. I guess it was just too early for me to take on such an advanced assignment."

But while Izy and Eric had needed motivation, Victoria was being showered in praise an affection by her father, and even a bit by her mother. A part of her was slightly embarrassed by how big a deal was made, but she was happy that her accomplishments today had been recognized.

"Honey, you may be a little rash, but you certainly have what it takes to serve the army," Richard said with a chuckle, "You know what? I think I might have been a little too hard on you yesterday."

"Really?" Victoria asked with a look of wonder in her eyes, the king giving her a nod and replying, "Yes. After all, hard as it is to admit, I actually did quite a lot of rash things back in the day, myself."

The princess was curious now as the king added, "For example, I was once told to stand watch over the kingdom. You know what I did? I left my post and wandered into town so I could help one of the other knights ward off invaders. That was a rather embarrassing moment in my life."

"What, did the castle get attacked?" the princess asked as Richard sighed, "Yes, they got into the castle because I wasn't there to help my partner. Luckily, there were some skilled knights inside the castle, but it was still a close call."

Victoria had to admit that she would have never imagined that her father, who had been so critical up to this point, could have been guilty of such a thing. Even so, she was glad to finally be able to see eye-to-eye with him about something and even earn his trust.

After more praise from her parents, Victoria left the throne room with a big smile as Iris had been waiting for her the whole time. The princess blinked as the violet-haired woman gave her a light smile but said nothing.

"Hey, Iris," the princess said with a grin, "I have to admit, you really are a great duellist. I'm glad we can be friends."

"Me too," Iris replied as both women gave each-other a high five, Victoria saying, "As much as I don't want to use my status for anything, I'm gonna try and convince Clement to have us on the same team for every assignment."

"I'd like that a lot," her violet-haired friend replied as the two walked toward the mess hall for dinner.

During this time, a magician was examining the magic stone in a secluded area. He then blinked and gasped, saying, "Yes, this one's power can really help. It's just a shame I can only use it to benefit one of our knights, but it's still very useful."

With that in mind, the man cast some kind of spell on the stone before picking it up and saying, "I'll have the blacksmith put this to good use right away. Yes, Richard will be most pleased with the result."


	27. Chapter 27

As night rolled around, Richard was unable to go to bed as early as he would have liked to. This was due to the fact that the magician looking over the magic stone had called him to the smithy to see what the stone would be used for.

As the man arrived, he asked, "So, I'm guessing the blacksmith going to create a powerful weapon with this?" the magician nodding his head and replying, "Yes. It would seem this stone can grant any kind of weapon a very useful power. That is the ability to damage any opponent at the start of a duel."

"Really?" Richard asked with much intrigue, the magician nodding his head and replying, "As a matter of fact, if I'm right, it can take away half of an opponent's damage points by emitting a powerful energy around the magic field."

"Well, I'm on board," the king replied with a smile, "but we should at least test it first. After all, while your magic has never been wrong before, it still helps to make sure this power works. After all, who's to say it won't have the opposite effect and damage the wearer instead?"

The magician nodded and replied, "Excellent point, my liege. But if it does work, we can use it to bring Duel Kingdom to our knees."

"Actually, I have something else in mind," Richard remarked, "As annoying as Duel Kingdom's forces can be, there's another who has already proven to be far more of a pain."

"You mean the cloaked knight," the magician replied as the king nodded and explained, "Whoever wears this armour will be sent out to search for him and bring him down. He's already defeated a small handful of my best knights and taken what should have been ours. He'll regret ever crossing paths with us."

"But who will you send?" the magician asked, "Dame Cynthia isn't sure she can face him and, well, Sir Adam is terrified to take a shot at him again."

"That's fine," Richard replied with a sigh, "If anything, I feel as if I should choose the kingdom's best knight, Dame Miranda."

"A wise choice indeed," the magician replied with a grin, "It will be good to be rid of one threat, at least."

"So, what kind of weapon is the blacksmith making, anyway?" Richard asked as the magician replied, "An iron knuckle. After all, gauntlets are all we use for combat, right?"

"An excellent point," Richard replied as he started to well up with excitement. Hopefully this would rid them of this threat to their kingdom once and for all.

Once morning came, Izy awoke and felt a little bit better. It seemed she had finally gotten over her loss as she was just as positive as always when joining her friends for breakfast.

As she took a seat, Will said, "Morning, Izy," with a grin as the brunette replied, "Morning."

The others followed suit when Will asked, "So, you're okay, right?" Izy nodding and laughing nervously, saying, "If this is about our loss yesterday, I already told you, I'm over it. It's better to work toward a better future than dwell on the past, right?"

'She must have had a similar conversation to the one I had,' Eric thought as he smiled and said, "That's right."

"Wait, you guys failed your mission?" Neil asked, Taylor giving them a warm smile and saying, "Good to see you guys are taking it well. A true warrior knows when to accept defeat."

Neil simply nodded and said nothing more. After all, he was not one to question anyone for losing seeing as he was still yet to win a single duel in his life.

"Say, how was your day off, anyway?" Will asked as he looked at the two, Taylor grinning and replying, "Well, Neil's been getting a lot better as of late," the blond knight nodding and replying, "I hate to brag, but I got her down to five hundred damage points yesterday."

Some of the other knights perked up at the sound of this as Izy said, "Wow, that's really close. I bet the next enemy who faces you won't know what hit him."

Neil chuckled nervously and replied, "Well, maybe," a light blush forming on his face.

And once breakfast was over, the knights were all assembled for their assignments as Celeste gave out quite a few. It seemed like there were quite a number of requests from the townsfolk today.

Once Celeste came to Eric and Izy, she took a deep breath and asked, "Alright, do you guys feel up to any major tasks today? I can understand if-"

"We're fine," Eric replied with a grin as Izy nodded and smirked, adding, "Yeah, we can handle anything! Bring it on!"

"That's good to know," the commander replied with a grin, "In that case, you're going to have a rather big job on your hands. See, someone has found a rare talisman and wants to bring it to the castle. However, he's afraid of what might happen if he goes out into the streets with it, so he wants protection."

"We're on it!" Eric exclaimed with a grin and an army salute, Izy doing the same. However, the brunette briefly tensed up, but not long enough for anyone to notice. But why had she done that? After all, this was not another escort quest, so surely it would not be as difficult for her to accomplish, right?

Celeste then turned to Neil and Taylor, saying, "As for you two, well, it seems Mr. Green has something he needs delivered today and wants you to guard him."

"Wait, what?" Neil asked with a look of confusion, "It's always nice guarding Leroy, but it's not even close to a month yet."

"That's a good point," Taylor replied, "So I take it this is a last-minute sort of thing, right?"

"Exactly," Celeste replied, "But luckily, there aren't any talismans on him this time, so you might not need to fight anyone."

"I'm fine either way," Taylor replied with a grin, "Mr. Green is nice," Neil nodding and saying, "Yeah, he's the only one in town who thinks I'm worth anything."

"But that's going to change soon, right?" Taylor cooed while pinching the blond knight's cheek, Neil wincing and uttering, "Yeah, of course."

With that in mind, all the knights were off as Celeste took a deep breath, thinking, 'Still, I can't help but wonder what kind of power they can get from that stone.'

During this time, Richard was in the training facility with a young woman with black hair in the form of a ponytail. This was Miranda and needless to say, she was curious as to why she had been summoned to this particular area.

"What is it you wish to see me about, sire?" the woman asked with her hands behind her back, Richard replying, "Well, we have a little present for you and we would like you to give it a test run."

"A present?" Miranda asked, trying her hardest not to look excited as the king snapped his fingers, saying, "Bring Dame Miranda her new weapon."

The woman's excitement grew at the sound of this when a guard approached her with the knuckle and said, "Hand me your left gauntlet."

The woman nodded before latching her magic gauntlet onto her right hand and bringing out her armour. She then took off the regular gauntlet on her left hand and gave it to the man, replacing it with this new glove made from the dark-purple stone that Victoria had brought back yesterday.

"Pretty," Miranda uttered as the guard who had handed her the glove equipped his own gauntlet, the black-haired knight asking, "Oh, am I supposed to have a practice duel?"

"Not exactly," Richard replied, "You are simply to test out one particular feature of this new weapon."

With that in mind, both the guard and the knight pressed the gems on their gauntlets as the magic field formed. And as the magician had predicted, a dark energy came from the new gauntlet and surrounded the field, the guard's damage points reduced to two thousand.

"It works," Richard said with a grin as Miranda looked at the number on her gauntlet and said, "Oh my god, my damage points have risen to five thousand."

The king could not have been happier. Not only had the knuckles done what they were supposed to, but they even had an additional effect to make things even easier. Needless to say, the cloaked knight would certainly have a real challenge on his hands if Miranda ever managed to track him down.

With that, Richard ordered the two to drop the magic field as he clapped and said, "Well, Miranda, you're more than ready for this important assignment I have for you."

The knight was beyond curious now as the king gave her the details. The woman gave him an army salute with a serious look in her eyes and exclaimed, "Yes, sir! I won't let you down!"

However, deep down inside, she was beyond ecstatic. Not only was the kingdom's odds of defeating the cloaked knight up to an all-time high, but Miranda, of all people, had been chosen to make it happen. With this new magic of hers, she could certainly pull it off.

During this time, Izy and Eric had gone to meet their new client. This was a man with sideburns for his brown hair and needless to say, he was more than happy to see that two knights would be helping him on his way to the castle.

"So you're my protection, eh?" the man asked with a grin, "It's very nice to meet you. Name's Kevin."

He then held out his hands as Izy and Eric each shook one, introducing themselves as well. And of course, when Kevin heard Eric's name, he could not help but bow his head in respect.

"No need to be so formal," the prince said as Kevin chuckled and replied, "Well, it's not everyday that your knight is the prince of Duel Kingdom."

"And don't forget me," Izy replied with a grin, Eric placing a hand on her shoulder and adding, "Yeah, she's the real star here."

The brunette blushed lightly and murmured, "You're giving me too much credit," while the prince laughed and replied, "Trust me, I'm not."

But while Izy's reaction was meant to be playful, a part of her was wondering just how true her words actually were. However, she quickly dashed that thought when she shook her head and remembered what Will had told her. Besides, she had lost many times before and yet had done so much after becoming a knight. While one failure could spell the end of the world during a war, this particular failure did not.

With that in mind, she, Eric and Kevin were on their way to the castle. However, unbeknownst to them, they were already being watched by two very stealthy Rose Kingdom. As a matter of face, the two wore rather tight clothes, much like those of a ninja, and even had masks over their faces. One wore red while the other wore blue.

"Target's in sight," the one in blue stated as the one wearing red whimpered, "There's two of them. I don't think we can do this."

The other let out a sigh and remarked, "Sis, it's very rare that we're trusted for anything other than scouting. Let's not let the king down, okay?"

"Okay," the woman in red whimpered as the two remained hidden, looking for just the right moment to strike, the blue woman adding, "Now remember how this will work. Only strike when you find out where that delivery man is keeping the talisman. If we can time this just right, we'll be able to get away without having to fight."

All the while, Neil and Taylor had met up with Leroy who had some fresh produce for the marketplace, the man chuckling and saying, "Sorry I had to spring this up on you. I thought I was done for the month."

"It's perfectly fine," Taylor replied with a warm smile, "We're always happy to serve you."

"It's true," Neil replied with a grin, "So, is it just simple produce today?"

"Yep," Leroy replied with a grin, "Turns out these babies came late. I'm not complaining, though. I get a little extra pay this way."

However, while this all seemed well and good, the group failed to notice a rather suspicious man following them. This man, in particular, looked to be in his thirties and had messy orange hair.

What exactly did this man want with Mr. Green, though? It was not as if the old man had anything valuable to deliver today, so this was beyond strange.

However, this would have to wait as Izy and Eric were still in the middle of their own quest. So far, it seemed okay as Kevin felt a lot less scared than Izy's other clients. It seemed just having knights to protect him was more than enough.

But things were not going to be as easy as they seemed as the ninja in blue examined him closely, nudging the red ninja and asking, "Do you see any signs of it?"

"N-n-no," the other woman squeaked while the blue ninja sighed, "Are you even paying attention?"

The red ninja trembled in response to that question as her sister rolled her eyes. Hopefully they would find a good time to strike soon.

"So," Eric said with a grin, "this talisman must be really powerful, eh?"

"Don't know," Kevin replied with a shrug, "All I heard is it's one of them demon heroes. I don't really know much about demons. I'm just the delivery guy."

"Is it really a good idea to talk about the talisman right now?" Izy whispered into the prince's ear as he blinked. It was odd for Izy to speak up against such a thing, but she did have a good point.

"Right, sorry about that," Eric uttered with a light chuckle, "Guess I need to watch what I say, huh?"

However, it seemed that hardly mattered as Kevin asked, "What's the big deal? Heck, I'd like to know more about these talismans. Like, why are they all flat like paper?"

The man then pulled the talisman out from under a sleeve on his outfit and looked at it, saying, "Most talismans I've heard of are round and can double as necklace emblems."

Before Izy could even point out what was wrong with it, a blue blur streaked by, nabbing the talisman right out of Kevin's hand. The man's eyes widened at the sight of this as he laughed nervously and said, "Sorry."

"Never mind that!" Eric exclaimed, "We gotta find out where that-" when he noticed a red blur start to follow it.

Luckily, Izy still had her acrobatic skills and thought, 'This isn't really a knight thing, but it'll help,' the brunette leaping into the air and performing a flip. And just as the red ninja was close enough, she received a hard kick to her face and was knocked on her back.

Izy beamed and squealed, "YEAH, SCORE ONE FOR DUEL KINGDOM!" before clearing her throat and saying, "Oh, I mean, yeah, you don't mess with Duel Kingdom."

"I liked the other expression more," Eric replied with a shrug as the woman in red slowly rose to her feet, the blue ninja leaping into the area and gasping, "What did you do to my sister!?"

"She kicked me, Stephanie!" the redhead cried while rubbing her eyes, tears running down them. All the while, the blue ninja, Stephanie, gasped and gave her sister a hug, coaxing, "Don't rub your eyes, Tina. You'll get pinkeye."

She then scowled at Izy and removed her mask, sighing, "I guess I've got no choice, now! I'm gonna teach you a lesson you'll never forget, you bitch!" only for Tina to take off her mask and grasp her arm, uttering, "I-I-I want to help. There's two of them. Y-You'll be outnumbered."

Stephanie grinned and replied, "Good, because we work best as a team anyway."

Izy started to tense up as Eric grinned, saying, "Great job, Izy. You got them out into the open," both ninjas latching their gauntlets onto their right hands as the brunette nodded and uttered, "You're right. I did, didn't I?"

The prince was rather concerned as Izy did not look as excited about this as she should have, but it hardly mattered as both ninjas were now clad in armour and the magic field had been formed. Kevin, all the while laughed nervously and uttered, "Sorry. My bad, guys."

"That's okay," Izy replied with a grin, "All that matters is that you're not caught up in this duel," all four knights drawing their starting hands. Luckily, while Tina was a wimp most of the time, it seemed that during duels, she could cast her usual worries aside as she had a more serious look on her face.

Stephanie then looked at her hand and stated, "I guess since I issued the challenge, I can decide who goes first. Thus I shall allow you the first move."

Eric blinked and said, "Well, that's noble of you," before grinning at Izy who looked over her hand, thinking, 'I might need more options.'

As such, she smiled at the prince and said, "You can start this off," the man nodding and grinning as he replied, "You got it, Izy."

With that in mind, Eric set three talismans into slots and activated two of them, saying, "First I activate The A Forces and Reinforcement of the Army-" but just as he was about to explain what they did, Tina trembled and whimpered, "He has those too."

"Oh, good, you're familiar with these," Eric said as pulled out another talisman from his deck courtesy of his reinforcement spell. He then wasted no time setting that one face-down on the middle square of his gauntlet while Kevin nodded and said, "That's why the talismans are so thin."

With that, Eric's turn came to a close as he took a deep breath and said, "That should do it for now."

However, Stephanie's turn had come next as she drew a talisman and said, "You'll wish you could have done more soon enough. Just you wait. We're elite soldiers in King Richard's army and there is no way we will lose."


	28. Chapter 28

Now that Stephanie's turn had started, she was prepared to get revenge on the Duel Kingdom knights, or at least Izy for bringing harm to her sister. As such, she took a deep breath and said, "I hope you're ready for this, because my warriors are truly amazing."

She started things off with a spell as she stated, "First, I activated my own copy of The A Forces. Like your spell, this raises the attack of all warriors by two hundred multiplied by the number of warriors and spellcasters my sister and I control."

Eric did not understand why she felt the need to explain this, but right now, that hardly mattered as the blue-haired woman placed a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet. This brought forth a slender man clad in silver armour underneath a brown ninja outfit. He was introduced as Earth Armour Ninja, but confusingly enough, he was at level five.

Tina already looked happy as Eric blinked and asked, "How did you do that?" Stephanie replying, "If my opponent controls a demon and I don't, I can special summon this warrior from my hand. But my strategy does not end there."

"You mean you already have-?" Tina uttered as the blue-haired woman nodded and replied, "That's right. I now use my normal summon to call forth Flame Armour Ninja!"

With that, the woman proceeded to bring out a ninja with a red ninja suit, metal guards for his forearms and leg armour. Izy started to tremble as she knew what this meant. With two warriors out, each of them would receive four hundred attack points, meaning each one would have at least two thousand.

Eric was scared too as he thought, 'Okay, please attacked with the brown one first,' Stephanie sighing, "You know, you give away so much with your facial expressions, it's almost painful to take advantage of this situation."

Izy bit her lower lip as Kevin asked, "That's an empty threat, right?"

"By the way, when my Flame Armour Ninja is summoned, I can raise the level of any ninja by one," Stephanie explained, "And I, of course, choose to give him that upgrade."

"Wait, you're not planning-" Eric uttered as Stephanie nodded and replied, "Exactly. By overlaying both of my ninjas, I summon the mighty and powerful Crimson Shadow Armour Ninja!"

With that, both ninjas turned into balls of light and came together to form a brighter one. And when the light faded, the warriors had been replaced by a new ninja, this one clad in crimson armour, which covered all but his belt area. Needless to say, this was a serious problem.

"One last thing," Stephanie stated as she activated one last spell. A powerful aura surrounded the ninja as the blue-haired woman explained, "With this Fairy Meteor Crush, you are guaranteed to take in damage this turn."

"Oh no," Izy uttered as Crimson charged toward Eric's boulder, smashing it to reveal a man in a trench coat and a bandit mask holding a big shield in front of his face. His name was Gagaga Gardna, and while his defence was high, it was not enough to protect him from this.

"Good thing I was prepared," Stephanie stated as Gardna's shield was sliced open, the man's eyes widening as Crimson pierced his chest, sending him into Eric's graveyard.

Thanks to the spell that had been equipped to him, the ninja proceeded to jab Eric's armour as his and Izy's damage points dropped to thirty-four hundred. And on that note, Stephanie's turn came to a close as Tina beamed, happy that she and her sister had an early lead.

Izy gulped as she drew her next talisman, Eric saying, "Alright, Izy, show them just how awesome you can be."

The brunette nodded and took a deep breath, thinking, 'I really need to think about this. If I don't come up with a sure-fire strategy, we'll lose again.'

It seemed she had a very good combination in her hand, but it would only be truly favourable to her under the right circumstances. And luckily for her, Stephanie did not have any traps set.

With this in mind, Izy grinned and said, "Alright, time for you to experience something that'll truly blow you away!" before clearing her throat and stating, "I mean, that was a good start, but it's not good enough."

Eric stared at the brunette with confusion but said nothing as she proceeded to set both her Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians. Eric's eyes sparkled as he exclaimed, "Yes! This is gonna be great!"

"What is that?" Tina uttered as Stephanie replied, "I don't know, but it looks dangerous."

As the mages took form, the pendulum appeared behind them as Izy whispered, "Hey, Eric, what's that trap you have set?"

Eric explained the details into her ear as she nodded and said, "I know what to do," and with that, Izy exclaimed, "Now with Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician, I pendulum summon Performapal Whip Snake and Performapal Cheermole!"

Both her cobra and her mole took form, Cheermole hiding her face behind her pom-poms with a blush. And to avoid possible damage, Izy had set the mole in defence position as Tina trembled, Stephanie asking, "Wait, how does that work?"

"It's called pendulum summoning," Eric said with a grin as Izy explained the whole procedure, Stephanie actually quite shocked.

However, her shock died down as she said, "As impressive as that is, it doesn't seem to have helped you all that much. Both of your demons are no match for my Crimson Shadow Armour Ninja."

"That's why I choose to normal summon Arnis the Empowered Warrior," Izy remarked as she slapped a talisman next to Cheermole. This brought forth a woman with red eyes like those of an insect and pink metal wings that resembled those of a dragonfly. Her armour matched the wings in colour as the helmet was shaped like the head of a falcon. And since she was a warrior, her power went up thanks to The A Forces.

However, this did not seem to be her main reason for summoning a warrior as Eric revealed his trap, saying, "Now face the power of Copy Knight! When a warrior is summoned normally, I can use this trap to create a second copy of it!"

And with that, a second Arnis appeared as Tina trembled, Stephanie sighing, "Don't worry. Even with four hundred additional attack points, they're still too weak."

"Yeah, but that's not what you summoned them for, is it?" Eric asked as Izy grinned and replied, "That's right!" but just as she got ready to summon Utopia, her eyes widened as she thought, 'Wait. I can't be too rash with this.'

Eric rose an eyebrow as Whip Snake looked poised and ready to use his power, Izy thinking, 'If I keep Whip Snake, I can use his power to switch that ninja's attack and defence. That way, I can deal more damage to her armour.'

The brunette then took a good look at Arnis as her mind added, 'But if I keep my regular Arnis on the field, Utopia will gain four hundred attack instead of two hundred. That's a longer-lasting effect too.'

Stephanie folded her arms and sighed, "Look, are you going to show me your new tactic or not? I'm growing impatient," Tina nodding and uttering, "The suspense is killing me."

'Sorry, buddy, but I'm gonna have to do this,' Izy thought as she exclaimed, "I overlay Eric's Copy Knight and my Whip Snake in order to summon my demon hero, Utopia!"

Whip Snake's eyes widened with shock as he turned into light, the second Arnis doing the same. Both came together to form a big light, and when it faded, a familiar knight clad in white and golden armour took form.

Tina looked scared now as Izy set a talisman into a slot, Kevin saying, "Wow, not bad."

Izy then grinned and said, "Thanks to my Arnis, Utopia's attack power rises to twenty-nine hundred. And it doesn't end there as I now use Cheermole's power!"

With that, the mole closed her eyes and started dancing while waving her pom-poms toward Arnis. With that, the warrior felt a great deal of motivation as a smirk formed on her face, a great aura surrounding her as she flexed her muscles and let out a battle cry.

"What did that do?" Stephanie asked as Izy replied, "See, if a demon has a higher attack power than he or she started with, Cheermole can use her power to bring up its attack power by an additional one thousand."

"You rule, Izy!" Eric exclaimed with a big smile, the brunette sighing with relief and thinking, 'This is good. Once this ninja is taken care of, they'll have nothing left.'

Deep down, what made her happiest right now was that she had made the smartest decision. With both of her warriors so high in power, there was no way Stephanie and Tina would win.

With that in mind, Izy had Utopia rush toward Crimson. But just as he rose his sword, Stephanie sighed, "Impressive, but not good enough as I activate my ninja's special power. At the cost of one overlay demon, any face-up ninja we control cannot be destroyed until the end of the turn."

And this seemed true as when Utopia went in to strike, Crimson vanished and reappeared once the blade had missed him. With that, the knight returned to Izy's side as her eyes went wide with shock. Eric was equally surprised as Kevin blinked and said, "Wow, I didn't realize these talismans held so much power."

With all said and done, Izy ended her turn and bit her lower lip. At the very least, Utopia's power would protect him, so it was not as if she was finished. Though Arnis would not be so lucky as Cheermole's effect had worn off, thus her attack power was back to what it was before.

Tina drew her talisman and had a light smile on her face, saying, "We might be able to win this after all," Stephanie nodding with her own smile and saying, "Yes. Now show them what you can do."

The redhead nodded and set a talisman into a slot, tapping it to activate it. It seemed she had activated her own copy of Reinforcement of the Army as she added a new talisman to her hand.

She then proceeded to place a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet, summoning a mechanical silver ninja with both arms crossed, a dagger in each hand. He wore a green martial arts outfit and had a blue ponytail, Tina introducing him as Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke.

Both ninjas now had a bigger increase in attack as Izy exclaimed, "Hold on! You won't be able to harm my Utopia as I use Whip Snake's power to-"

However, her eyes widened when she remembered that she had used Whip Snake as an overlay unit for her demon hero. As such, she could not use his effect. Had she really made the right decision when she chose to keep Arnis on the field?

Eric looked at her as Stephanie sighed, "Try to remember your own moves," as Tina looked at her sister, the blue-haired woman nodding and saying, "Yes, do it."

The redhead nodded and activate a spell, namely Mystical Space Typhoon. Izy's eyes widened in horror a gust of wind headed toward her trap and destroyed it.

'Oh no, that was supposed to keep her at bay,' the brunette thought with fear in her eyes, Eric looking rather concerned now as Sasuke charged toward Arnis, performing an X-shaped slash with his daggers.

Arnis flew into Izy's graveyard as the ninja proceeded to strike her armour, bringing her and Eric's damage points to thirty-three hundred. And it did not end there as Crimson charged at Utopia, Stephanie saying, "Now that your demon hero is weaker, you'll take in more damage."

Izy was in too much shock to remember Utopia's ability as Eric exclaimed, "Izy, use Utopia's power!" the brunette gasping as she exclaimed, "Right! At the cost of one overlay demon, I can negate an attack aimed at Utopia!"

And this was proven when the knight blocked the incoming attack with his blade, forcing Crimson back. Stephanie narrowed her eyelids as Tina whimpered, "That's not good!"

"It's fine," her blue-haired sister replied, "This is only a minor setback," Tina nodding and setting a talisman into a slot, thus bringing her turn to a close.

As Eric drew his next talisman, Izy was breathing heavily. The prince turned to her and asked, "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not!" Izy remarked with light tears in her eyes, "I thought I had the perfect setup, but instead, I made the biggest mistake I possibly could have! There's no doubt that they'll eventually destroy Utopia and then we'll have nothing to defend ourselves with!"

Eric put on a serious look and rested a hand on Izy's shoulder, sighing, "Look, Izy, you are an amazing duellist. You have a tendency to get out of tough scrapes like this. I know what you're going through. Even I'm still having a bit of trouble getting over our loss yesterday, but it's like you said. Instead of dwelling on the past, we need to look toward a brighter future."

"Okay, seriously, are you gonna go?" Stephanie asked with a sigh, the prince smiling and adding, "I know a lot is at stake, but if all you think about is failure, you're only more likely to fail. Instead of trying to over-think things, do what your heart tells you."

Izy let out a light gasp as Eric added, "Also, I like the way you usually go about duelling. Your lack of positivity is kind of bringing me down," the boy letting out a light laugh.

Izy simply nodded as the prince said, "Right, where were we?" Stephanie sighing, "We were at the start of your move, which you're still yet to make."

"Right," Eric replied as he placed a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet, bringing forth a bright-orange man with burning hair and two swords covered in flames, saying, "I now summon Master of the Flaming Dragonswords. His power is quite high, so you'd better watch out."

With Utopia's power higher, Eric proceeded to have Cheermole give a small dance toward the knight, raising his power even higher. Izy's eyes sparkled as Tina trembled, Stephanie still looking calm. Sure, this boost in power may have seemed helpful right now, but the blue-haired woman had a way around this, one that had already been demonstrated.

And it was soon revealed as when Utopia charged at Crimson, Stephanie removed his overlay unit and said, "Once again, at the cost of one overlay demon, my Crimson Shadow Armour Ninja will make all ninjas in our control immune to attacks."

And once again, this was proven true as when Utopia send his blade down toward Crimson, the ninja vanished and reappeared after the sword had missed him. However, Eric looked beyond confident as he said, "Yeah, that was the idea. I just forced you to use up your ninja's overlay units so you can't use that power again."

Izy gasped as the man nodded and said, "Don't forget, Izy, there's always a downside to every great strategy. All you have to do is exploit it."

"In that case, I'll do the same thing," Stephanie remarked as she knew Eric had nothing left. And this was true as the prince ended his turn, Izy doing her best to remain confident.

As Stephanie drew her next talisman, she took a deep breath and said, "Well, you've certainly kept us at bay, but now your advantage is about to come to an end," and this seemed so as she proceeded to summon a man in a blue ninja outfit with armour covering his arms and legs.

"Aqua Armour Ninja isn't exactly powerful, but he still gives my ninja more than enough power to deal with your Utopia," Stephanie said as Izy smirked, her confidence fully returning as she exclaimed, "You seem to have forgotten one little detail!"

And this was shown as Izy had an overlay unit removed, Utopia blocking the incoming strike. However, it seemed Stephanie was perfectly content with this as she said, "Now I've done exactly what your ally did. I've forced you to use up your overlay units."

The woman then fixated her gaze on Utopia's talisman and just managed to catch out the small words written on it, saying, "Alright, now I'll have Aqua aim an attack at your Utopia."

"Wait, what!?" Eric spat as Izy trembled, uttering, "Oh no."

"Yes, I managed to make out the text on the talisman," Stephanie explained as Tina asked, "What did it say?"

"It says that if a demon were to attack Utopia while he has no overlay units, he must be sent to the graveyard no matter what," Stephanie replied, "And with that taken care of, I can now use Sasuke to defeat your Dragonswords."

Izy trembled as even Kevin was scared now, Sasuke charging at the orange man and slicing him in half, sending him into Eric's graveyard. He then struck the prince's armour, thus bringing both his and Izy's damage points down to twenty-nine hundred.

And with that, Stephanie's turn came to a close as Izy was once again scared. Now she was unsure of whether or not her confidence could return as Eric rested a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Come on, you've got this. I know you can turn things around for us."

With that, Izy closed her eyes and thought, 'He's right. Come on, deck, give me something good.'

And as she drew her next talisman, a big smile formed on her face as she had drawn Card of Sanctity. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of this as she thought, 'I completely forgot I had this. Maybe this isn't so hopeless after all.'

With that in mind, the brunette inserted it into a slot as she said, "I now activate Card of Sanctity. This allows us all to draw until we each have six talismans in our hands!" Eric grinning and replying, "Yeah, that can help us a lot!"

Tina whimpered as she drew talismans as well, Stephanie looking over her new talismans and saying, "Well, at least it helps us a bit too."

Izy proceeded to insert two talismans into a slot, activating one as she said, "I now activate the permanent spell, Supply Squad. Now whenever a demon I control is destroyed, I get to draw a talisman," Eric nodding in approval.

"And now," Izy exclaimed, "I pendulum summon Performapal Kaleidoscorp and Ventdra, the Empowered Warrior!"

With that, the red scorpion took form along with a blue demonic man with red eyes. He also had matching armour with a helmet that resembled a snake biting down on his head. It was a good think Izy had her pendulums set as both demons were high in level.

Tina squeaked in panic as Stephanie sighed, "That's not to impressive. Neither of those demons comes close to defeating either Sasuke or Crimson Ninja."

"True, but it seems you've already forgotten about Cheermole's power," Izy replied with a smirk as the mole started dancing, Ventdra grinning and flexing his muscles while an aura surrounded him.

Stephanie narrowed her eyelids as the blue warrior leapt toward Crimson, kicking him hard in the skull and sending him flying into the blue-haired knight's graveyard. He then proceeded to kick her in the armour as her and Tina's damage points dropped to thirty-eight hundred.

Sure, it was not a lot of damage, but it was still an improvement. Now Izy was back in the game and there was no way she was going to lose.


	29. Chapter 29

Things were finally starting to look up for Izy and Eric as Kevin said, "Hey, cool, you guys got a kill in," Izy grinning with excitement, so happy to have made a turn-around. Sure, she had only dealt a little bit of damage, but at least it was something.

But as Izy's turn came to a close, Stephanie turned to Tina and asked, "Why didn't you use your trap?" the redhead whimpering, "S-Sorry, I panicked," the blue-haired woman sighing, "Your confidence doesn't go up nearly enough during duels. Oh well, you can still make use of it."

As Tina drew another talisman, she nodded and said, "That's true, I can," and with the additional talismans Izy had helped her obtain, this might just be easier after all.

With that, she activated her trap and stated, "I now activate Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation! With that, I send both Aqua Armour Ninja and your Ventdra to the graveyard!"

Izy gasped as her Ventdra flew into her graveyard, though at least it allowed her and Eric to a talisman each. But this hardly mattered as Tina added, "And in exchange, I can now summon a dragon whose level is less than or equal to the combined levels, and I choose White Dragon Ninja!"

Eric and Izy were both shocked when this supposed 'dragon' was actually a human girl with white hair and a ninja outfit to match. However, she seemed to have the spirit of a serpent dragon floating around her as Tina explained, "Since she has been classified as a dragon type, The A Forces doesn't work on her. As such, Sasuke's power goes down as well."

'Well, some good came out of that,' Eric thought, 'Though it's not much.'

All the while, Izy was thinking, 'Oh no, my trap only works on normal summoned demons,' but it seemed she would not be able to use it anyway as Tina had another Mystical Space Typhoon and wasted no time using it.

"Two Mystical Space Typhoons!?" Izy gasped as Stephanie nodded and replied, "We are among the highest-ranked soldiers in Rose Kingdom. There's a reason we have such status, and the impressive talismans we have collected on our own is one of those reasons."

As a result, Izy's trap was destroyed, namely Trap Hole. It was a really useful power that destroyed any demon with one thousand attack points or higher, but only if it was normal summoned.

"With that taken care of, I now summon Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja," Tina stated as she placed another talisman onto her gauntlet, this time bringing out a slender young man dressed in red ninja outfit with purple sleeves. He also had spiky blue hair and held a big, golden pipe in his hand. Sure, he was not very strong, but he was another warrior, and that was good enough.

"You made an okay comeback, but it wasn't a great one," Stephanie stated, "but on the upside, it did provide you with reasonable protection, though right now, it'll only prevent you from going down on this turn."

With that in mind, White Dragon sent her spirit toward Kaleidoscorp as the scorpion held her shields in front of her face. Unfortunately, this proved ineffective as the shields were shattered and the scorpion was sent to Izy's graveyard.

Goe proceeded to extend his pipe, sending the end hard into Cheermole and sending her into the grave as well. Or so it seemed, anyway. In fact, when Izy looked at her graveyard, she noticed that both talismans had not appeared there. Instead, they had gone into her extra deck.

'What is this?' she thought as she suddenly remembered that Cheermole and Kaleidoscorp had a similar colour scheme to their talismans. Could it be that all this time, they were also pendulum demons? Maybe that had something to do with this.

In fact, Eric had even noticed that no additional talismans had been added to either knight's hand as a result of this. Could Izy's theory be true?

That thought would need to wait as Sasuke rushed at her and struck her armour hard. The brunette gritted her teeth as her and Eric's damage points dropped to seven hundred. Now even Kevin was scared as it looked like they might very well lose again.

"Oh no," Izy groaned, rubbing her head, "What are we gonna do!?" Stephanie sighing, "If you surrender, we won't think any less of you. The fact that you even toughed it out for this long against us is impressive."

"R-Really?" Tina uttered as the blue-haired woman remarked, "Are you implying that we're not that strong?"

In a sense, though, this was not that much different from Izy's duel with Celeste. In fact, it was worse as she had dealt even less damage and was already close to failure.

However, Eric simply grinned and said, "Don't worry, thanks to your spell, I got a really good hand here. And if I'm not mistaken, I can also use pendulum summoning, right?"

Izy gasped and nodded, saying, "That's right," a big grin forming as she said, "We might be able to win this after all."

But just as Eric was about to summon, Izy tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something into his ear. The man's eyes widened as he remarked, "But what if that doesn't work? If it's against the rules, one of our gauntlets might explode."

Izy nodded and replied, "Yes, but I really have a strong feeling about this. I'm certain you can do it."

Stephanie took a deep breath and asked, "Are you just going to surrender and hand us the talisman or not?" Eric grinning and remarking, "Not on your life!"

With that in mind, the man started up his turn by setting a talisman into a slot and then proceeded to pendulum summon four fighters to his side. The first was a knight clad in red and golden armour with a big cape and two saw-like blades named Zubaba Knight.

The second was a man dressed head to toe in red and black armour with a shield and a sword strapped to his back. With his arms out like those of a sumo wrestler, this was Tasuke Knight.

His third, which was placed in defence position was a warrior dressed in red, silver and golden armour. With two enormous green shields in his hands, this was Ganbara Knight.

However, the last one to be summoned was a huge shock for Stephanie, Tina and Kevin as who would appear but Performapal Cheermole? Eric, all the while, had the biggest grin on his face. He did not know how Izy knew about this, but somehow, she knew.

But he was surprised to see an equal amount of shock and excitement on Izy's face as she squealed, "Oh my god, it worked! I was right! It seems other pendulum demons go to the extra deck when they're defeated, so I can summon them at any time!"

"Wait, you were going off of a hunch?" Stephanie asked, "This pendulum summoning is confusing enough. Don't you think that was a little too risky?"

"Sure, but life is full of risks," Izy replied with a big grin, Eric nodding as he said, "By the way, I have one more summon to make, a normal summon to be precise."

With that in mind, Eric proceeded to bring out his Achacha Archer, the warrior sending an arrow into Stephanie's armour as her and Tina's damage points were reduced to thirty-three hundred. And it did not end there as now that Eric had four warriors out, all of them gained an additional eight hundred attack points.

And naturally, he had Cheermole use her power to raise the attack of Achacha Archer, the archer flexing his muscles while an aura surrounded him. Needless to say, Stephanie and Tina were in trouble now.

The archer started things up as he sent an arrow into White Dragon, the girl flying into Tina's graveyard as the redhead took the arrow to her armour. This reduced the team's damage points to three thousand. And it did not end there as Zubaba slashed open Sasuke, delivering a dual strike to Tina's armour and dropping the damage points to twenty-eight hundred.

And finally, Tasuke pulled out his sword and shield and used the sword to cut open Goe, sending him into Tina's graveyard as well. And with that, the redhead took in one more strike as the women had their damage points reduced to two thousand.

Eric and Izy both grinned wide and gave each-other a high five, Stephanie's eye twitching as she thought, 'I can't believe it. These two are clearly not to be taken lightly. And it's all because of that pendulum summoning. It's pretty much given them a major edge over us."

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and took a deep breath, thinking, 'Though I doubt they'll be able to get around this,' as she turned to Tina, who was trembling, and said, "Don't worry, sis, I've got this."

Stephanie started up her turn by activating The Warrior Returning Alive, thus bringing a warrior from her graveyard back to her hand. And the one she chose was Earth Armour Ninja. And thanks to his special power, the blue-haired woman was able to summon him.

"Your warriors are tough, but only because of your A Forces," the woman explained, "All I have to do is bring out four warriors with stronger attack points, and I'll do it with this."

The woman then proceeded to activate the spell Double Summon, Izy groaning, "They even have that one?" as Stephanie placed a talisman onto the square next to her ninja.

This brought forth man dressed in a dark-blue ninja garb, Stephanie saying, "This is Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo, my personal favourite of all my ninjas. And I also plan on making a sacrifice."

With this in mind, she placed a talisman on top of her Earth Armour Ninja as the warrior in question was replaced with another. This man was clad in armour shaped just like a ninja garb and was known as Senior Silver Ninja.

"Oh no," Izy groaned as thanks to the effects of A Forces, he was just powerful enough to strike down Tasuke Knight. And it did not end there as Stephanie activated a spell, saying, "I now use Double Attack so that my Silver Knight can strike again, making your defeat inevitable. Though it will cost me a level seven warrior from my hand," the blue-haired woman making that a possibility as she discarded a talisman into her graveyard.

Kevin trembled in terror as Silver rushed Tasuke, putting a gash in his armour sending him to Eric's graveyard as the prince took in a strike, his and Izy's damage points reduced to five hundred. But just as it seemed over, Eric had a plan as he smirked and said, "Not so fast. It seems we might last a bit longer thanks to the power of Call of the Haunted."

But as the man revealed the trap, it seemed he had more in mind than bringing his Tasuke Knight back as he instead chose to return Izy's Ventdra to the field. The brunette was rather surprised by this as she turned to face the prince who gave her a reassuring thumb up.

"Don't forget, we share the same field," Eric stated, "As such, this spell allows me to take from your graveyard as well, and we know Utopia would have been destroyed anyway, so Ventdra was a much better pick."

"Very true," Stephanie replied, "But unfortunately for you, I have a way around this."

With that in mind, the blue-haired woman had Hanzo charge toward Achacha and strike him down, sending him into Eric's graveyard as the prince took in another strike, his and Izy's damage points now down to three hundred.

With Ventdra now weak enough, Silver proceeded to ram his sword into the blue demon's armour and send him into Izy's graveyard. The brunette bit her lower lip and took in a jab to her armour, her and Eric's damage points now two hundred. Needless to say, things were only looking worse now as Stephanie ended her turn.

"Um, sis?" Tina asked as the blue-haired woman turned to her and replied, "What is it?"

"Why didn't you have your silver ninja attack Zubaba Knight instead?" the redhead enquired, "If you had done that, their damage points would have dropped to zero," Stephanie's eyes widening as she thought, 'Oh no, I actually made an error in judgement?'

Seeing this, Izy blinked as Eric grinned and said, "See that? Even a highly-ranked knight can make the occasional mistake. You're not alone."

The brunette nodded as she thought, 'Besides, all those deaths earned me more talismans,' the woman beyond excited only to notice she had one demon in her hand. She could not believe it. She had a total of seven talismans and only one was a demon.

However, it seemed she might have a chance to end it all anyway as the demon in question was very strong. Not only that, but she had a spell in her hand that could turn everything around, the same spell Victoria had used to strike down Izy, Will and Eric with just two attacks.

"Hey, Eric," Izy said with a grin, "I hope you don't mind having to part with your warriors."

The prince grinned and replied, "If it helps us end this once and for all, I'll take it."

Izy nodded and proceeded to activate Dark Hole, Stephanie and Tina both terrified as the big black hole appeared, sucking in every single warrior and demon on the field. But while Zubaba and Ganbara Knight's destruction allowed Izy and Eric to add two more talismans to their hands, this was hardly a big deal as Izy beamed and posed like she was about to give a curtain call.

"And now for the grand finale!" she exclaimed with her feet close together and her arms spread out, "With the power of my Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians, I pendulum summon the mighty, powerful Aether, the Empowering Dragon!"

Even Stephanie was terrified now as a mechanical dragon made entirely out of solid gold appeared. The beast let out a loud roar as Kevin whistled, feeling quite impressed while Tina whimpered, "W-W-What are we going to do, sis?"

"Nothing," Stephanie replied with a sigh as she folded her arms and closed her eyes, "We have lost this duel."

The redhead was now frightened out of her mind. Sure, failure scared her, but only because she knew it could likely result in their death.

And with all said and done, Izy let down a light tear and thought, 'I guess I'm still worthy of being a knight. I don't know what I was thinking to doubt myself like that.'

The dragon then opened his mouth wide and unleashed a blast of light, striking Stephanie's armour hard as the woman had their damage points dropped all the way down to zero. And with that, it truly was over for them as their armour came open and fell to the ground in a heap.

Tina trembled even more as Stephanie gave her a hug, saying, "Look, take my life, but spare my sister."

Eric grinned and said, "Don't worry, we don't believe in killing anyone, be them enemies or not. Though you will have to come with us to prison," the man pressing his hand against his gem and dropping the magic field.

Izy nodded as Stephanie closed her eyes and sighed, "It pains me to do this as you two actually seem like good people, but I'm afraid my sister and I do not intend to rot in a cell like our comrades."

With that in mind, the blue-haired woman pulled out a smoke bomb and hurled it into the ground, creating a cloud of smoke so she and her sister could escape. Izy simply blinked and uttered, "I'm confused. Were they knights or ninjas?"

Eric shrugged as Kevin grinned and replied, "The important thing is that this talisman is out of the enemy's hands."

"He's right," Eric replied as he and Izy gave each-other a high five, "I have to hand it to you, Izy, you really pulled through for us."

The brunette blushed lightly and replied, "Well, you did a lot of work too," the prince saying, "With the help of those pendulum mages of yours. And reviving Cheermole like that, well, only you could have come to that conclusion."

Kevin nodded and said, "I have to admit, those magic duels are intense. I'm surprised you can deal with that sort of thing on a regular basis."

Izy and Eric nodded as Eric replied, "Well, it's not easy, I can tell you that much," and thus the trio resumed their trip to the castle, Kevin asking, "Say, you think maybe we can turn these magic duels into some kind of card game? Like, just base playing cards off of the talismans. Then kids can duel in a way that's less dangerous."

While all of this was going on, Neil and Taylor were at the marketplace as Leroy had finished dropping off his produce. He had a big smile on his face as he said, "Well, that's it for today. Guess you can escort me to the loading bay so I can put my wagon away."

"Yes sir," Taylor replied with a grin as Neil breathed in the fresh air. As much as he wanted to prove his skills, he still enjoyed quests where he did not have to fight any invaders, and he felt fortunate that this pretty much defined the majority of his and Taylor's missions.

But just as they were about to end their job, the orange-haired man from earlier stepped in front of them and said, "So, Dragon, it seems like you've finished your work for today. Now I won't feel bad about taking your head."

Leroy's eyes widened as his expression quickly changed back to a smile when Neil turned to look at him, the man laughing and asking, "I say, what's all this about a dragon?"

"Don't play dumb with me, old man!" the man retorted as he latched a gauntlet onto his hand, "The rest of Rose Kingdom may have forgotten about you, but I could never forget Duel Kingdom's most threatening warrior, the great Green Dragon!"

Taylor blinked and asked, "Green Dragon?" Neil nodding and replying, "I've heard of him. He was the best knight we ever had. He was offered the position of commander many times but refused to take it as he knew it would require him to no longer go out on the battlefield unless it was a serious emergency. But he went missing thirty years ago. Many say he rode off to find himself but was never heard from again."

"Yes, that man struck down my own father last time we and Duel Kingdom went to war!" the orange-haired man growled while pointing at Leroy, "Killed him just after he impregnated my mom! I never got to know my dad and it's all because of that man!"

But while Taylor and Neil were spellbound by this, Leroy simply chuckled and replied, "Oh, I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else. My name is Leroy Green."

"Wow, you couldn't come up with something more original?" the orange-haired man retorted, "Mark my words! I intend to avenge my father and strike you down right here and now!"

Neil and Taylor simply stared at Leroy as the old man scratched his head, Neil sighing, "I'm sorry about your father, but I can't have you targeting our client, especially on account of such wild accusations. As such, I will take you on in order to defend him from harm!" the blond knight pressing the gem on his gauntlet and bringing up a magic field around him and the orange-haired man.

"Wait, Neil, you forgot about me," Taylor stated as Neil shook his head and replied, "Sorry, Taylor, but I wanna do this alone," a grin on his face as the black-haired woman smiled and nodded her head, replying, "I understand. Give him Hell."

But did the blond knight really have what it took? For all he knew, this could very well be the most rash decision he had ever made.


	30. Chapter 30

Things had certainly taken an unexpected turn. Not only had Leroy been mistaken for an old war veteran who had apparently helped Duel Kingdom greatly during a previous war with Rose Kingdom, but now Neil, of all knights, was fighting by himself to save the old man's life.

But while he had entered this duel with confidence, his old fear was starting to kick in as the orange-haired knight before him said, "You have a lot of gall to face me, little man. I've been serving Rose Kingdom's army for ten years, so I just want you to know that I'm no pushover," the man drawing five talismans.

"Neil here isn't a pushover, either," Taylor remarked with a smirk, "You might be surprised," the blond knight thinking, 'Did you have to say that? I may be better now, but I still haven't won a duel yet.'

"In that case, I'll have to be careful then," the orange-haired man replied with a smirk, "But mark my words. You will fall to the might of me, Sir Victor."

Neil gulped as a few seconds passed, Victor saying, "By the way, you get to choose who goes first."

"Oh, right, of course," Neil replied with a light chuckle as he thought, 'I need to think about this more logically. Right now, my hand isn't that great...'

With that in mind, Neil uttered, "Um, you can go first," the orange-haired knight bowing his head and replying, "How noble of you, but don't think this will be easy. Soon enough, I will avenge my father!"

Victor started his turn by inserting two talismans into his gauntlet, activating one as he stated, "I begin my turn by activating Call of the Mummy. Once per turn, as long as I control no demons, I can special-summon a zombie from my hand."

"Wait, does that work on the first turn?" Neil uttered, "It only stands to reason that you wouldn't have a demon at the start of the duel, right?" Victor smirking and replying, "I used to think that, but I later discovered that it works no matter what turn you choose to activate it. In other words, I can make two summons this turn. And I choose to bring out Getsu Fuhma and Gernia!"

With that, Victor slapped two talismans onto squares on his talisman. The first to appear, Gernia, was an odd creature with a small dinosaur-like body made entirely out of innards with bones as armour. It also had golden claws and horns on its snout. However, gross exterior aside, the creature did not have a particularly high attack.

No, this honour went to Getsu Fuhma, the normal summoned fighter of the turn as she was not a zombie. She was a human woman with long red hair and grey armour with a few red attachments that resembled big paws with spikes representing claws. And in her hand was a long blade with a golden handle.

Neil could not help but feel fortunate that it was the only the first turn, thus Victor could not attack as he said, "Let's see what you have in store for me. After all, you made a pretty big deal about your skills," Taylor exclaiming, "Yeah, show him what you're made of!"

Leroy, all the while, scratched his head thinking, 'Victor... never heard that name before.'

As Neil drew his next talisman, he looked over his hand and thought, 'That's right. I've been working hard to get better, and it's finally time to put my training to good use. It might not be easy, but I know I can pull it off.'

With that in mind, the blond knight started his turn by setting a talisman into a slot and summoning the only demon he could. This was a red dragon with all but the belly, tail and bottom half of his neck covered in white armour and his name was Masked Dragon.

"How is that supposed to help you?" Victor asked as Neil thought, 'It's not much, but if all goes right, I'll end up taking in less damage on his turn and he'll take on mine.'

As such, the man inserted another talisman into a slot and tapped it, stating, "I activate Dragon's Gunfire. As long as I control a face-up dragon, I can choose one of two effects, and I choose to deal eight hundred damage to your armour!"

Victor had to admit he was slightly impressed as Masked Dragon opened his mouth and unleashed a big fireball into the orange-haired knight, bringing his damage points down to thirty-two hundred. And it did not end there as the dragon sent another fireball into Gernia, sending the zombified dinosaur into the graveyard as the new fireball hit Victor's armour, his damage points now down to three thousand.

While the orange-haired knight simply saw this as a good starting move, Neil, all the while, was spellbound. Had he really just pulled this off, and on the first turn no less? Sure, he knew his dragon would be destroyed soon enough, but he still could not believe that he of all knights had formulated a strategy that would deal one thousand damage to his opponent so easily and early in the duel.

All the while, Taylor grinned and exclaimed, "Good job, Neil! I told you you had what it took!" Leroy smiling and saying, "I don't know what's going on, but it looked good to me."

While Neil blushed lightly and laughed nervously, Victor narrowed his eyelids and thought, 'Yes, just pretend that you have no idea what's going on, you monster. I'll win this duel in the end and have my revenge, just you wait.'

As Neil's next main phase began, he looked over his hand and took a deep breath, thinking, 'I know it seems rash, but I don't think I can work with any of my remaining talismans.'

As such, the man inserted another talisman into a slot and tapped it, exclaiming with more confidence than before, "I end my turn with the spell, Card Destruction! Each of us will now discard our entire hand and replace it with the same number of talismans!"

Neil discarded the two remaining talismans in his hand and drew two new ones while Victor did the same with the last talisman in his hand. However, a smirk simply formed on his face as he said, "Hey, thanks. You just helped me bring my numbers up."

Neil and Taylor were both confused when the talisman Victor had discarded returned to his hand, the man saying, "See, the demon you just had me discard was Regenerating Mummy. If he's sent to the graveyard from my hand as a result of an opponent's spell or demon power, I can get him back."

And with Neil's turn over, the orange-haired man drew a third talisman for his hand and added, "Oh, by the way, Regenerating Mummy is also quite powerful," the man slapping his talisman next to Getsu.

A mummy with a chunk taken off of the left side of his head and a lower body made of spiritual energy appeared. Not only was this demon certainly tough, but he was frightening as well, Neil trembling a little bit. And of course, his plan to take in less damage than Victor had also backfired.

Victor then set a talisman before saying, "I'll admit, you managed a decent first move, but it's nothing compared to what I have in store," before revealing the trap he had set last turn, namely Call of the Haunted. And with that, Gernia returned to the magic field.

Neil gulped as Getsu rushed at Masked Dragon, slicing him open as he flew into the blond knight's graveyard. Neil then took in a jab to his armour as his damage points dropped to thirty-eight hundred.

But just as Victor was about to launch another attack, Neil exclaimed, "I now activate Masked Dragon's special power! When he's defeated by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon a dragon with fifteen hundred attack or less from my deck!"

With that, a whole assortment of talismans floated out of Neil's deck and hovered in front of him, the boy thinking, 'Okay, I need to think logically. Whoever I pick is going to be destroyed regardless of his strength. After all, none of these dragons can withstand that mummy's power.'

However, the man noticed one in particular and smiled, picking up that one's talisman and slapping it sideways onto the field, shouting, "I now summon Twin-Headed Behemoth in defence position!"

Taylor beamed as Victor looked confused, a purple dragon with two heads attached to necks that were lowered like arms taking form. A black spike was located where a head would normally be, the necks themselves attached to the shoulders.

"I fail to see how such a weak demon is supposed to protect you," Victor said with a grimace, "Especially one whose defence is lower than Gernia's attack!"

Neil took a deep breath and braced himself, the dinosaur corpse ramming his snout into Behemoth and sending him to the graveyard. And it only got worse when Regenerating Mummy bit into Neil's shoulder, bringing his damage points all the way down to two thousand.

"I'll admit, you have provided an okay distraction," Victor said, "but you're nowhere near the threat you made yourself out to be. But don't feel bad. After all, I'm a war veteran. I'm way beyond your league."

"Well, if you really are, then you should know that Twin-Headed Behemoth has a special power," Neil remarked with a smirk as the dragon returned to the field, "See, during the end phase of a turn in which this demon is destroyed, he comes back with one thousand attack and defence That's why I specifically chose him over all others."

Taylor beamed as Victor simply shrugged and replied, "So you've increased your numbers. Big deal."

Neil had to admit that the orange-haired man had a point. After all, Neil had nothing in his hand that could defeated either his Getsu or his mummy. The strongest demon he had right now was just strong enough to defeat Gernia, but that was it.

However, Taylor simply grinned and said, "Come on, Neil, don't let him get you down. That was a smart move. Now make it count."

Neil took a deep breath and nodded, drawing his next talisman as his eyes widened with shock. He then remembered something important as he said, "First, I activate my trap, Legacy of Yata-Garasu to draw one extra talisman!"

While this was meant to simply increase his options, the blond was shocked when he wound up drawing something equally useful. With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "First, I summoned Dragunity Aklys!"

With that, a tiny red dragon covered in silver armour with a spear attached to his head appeared, but it seemed there was more planned as Neil added, "When this demon is normal summoned, I can special summon a Dragunity demon from my hand, and I choose Dragunity Arma Mystletainn!"

Victor had to admit that he was actually impressed now as a black dragon clad in golden armour with a big sword appeared. However, it did not end there as Neil explained, "After a Dragunity is summoned with Aklys' power, Aklys becomes a weapon and equips himself to that demon, increasing his attack power by one thousand!"

With that, Aklys tucked his body into his armour, thus turning himself into a spear while Mystletainn held him in his free hand. Now Victor was even more alarmed as it seemed this blond knight had more to him than he thought.

"However, it doesn't end there," Neil added as he inserted a talisman into a slot and exclaimed, "I now activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Masked Dragon!"

As the dragon took form, Neil's eyes widened as he thought, 'I can't believe it. This setup, it's perfect! I finally have the right setup!"

With that in mind, the blond took a deep breath and said, "I now overlay both my Behemoth and my Masked Dragon in order to summon Grenosaurus!"

Victor was truly spellbound now as Neil's demons became balls of light and came together. And when the light faded, a red T-Rex with fire coming from his nostrils and silver armour covering his legs took form, a loud roar escaping his mouth while Leroy said, "That's a loud one, isn't it?"

'He has a demon hero?' the orange-haired knight thought as Neil took a deep breath, a light smile on his face as he thought, 'I did it. I finally summoned you. I guess I am worthy of you after all.'

To start things off, though, he had his dragon soar toward Regenerating Mummy as Victor activated his trap, shouting, "Nice try, kid, but I activate Impenetrable Attack! This spell has one of two effects! I can either choose to prevent one of my demons from being destroyed or I can choose to take in no battle damage at the cost of letting my demons be destroyed, and I choose the second effect!"

With that a barrier surrounded the man's armour as Regenerating Zombie was sliced in two, flying into his graveyard. Neil looked rather confused as Taylor exclaimed, "Come on, Neil, keep it up! You may not be able to hurt him, but at least you can lower his numbers!"

Leroy nodded as Neil nodded and thought, 'That's right! Come on, Grenosaurus, show me your power!'

With that the dinosaur charged at Getsu and bit into her skull, sending her into the graveyard. But just as it seemed like Neil's move was over, the boy said, "Now I activate Grenosaurus' special power, a power that your trap can't counter!"

"Wait, what?" Victor asked as the blond knight added, "By removing one overlay demon, Grenosaurus can now deal one thousand damage to your armour after destroying your demon!" *

The orange-haired knight gritted his teeth and fumed when Grenosaurus unleashed a burst of flames from his nostrils, striking the man's armour and dropping his damage points down to two thousand. Now he and Neil were tied as Taylor and even Leroy cheered wildly for the blond man.

Neil had the biggest smile on his face as he thought, 'I can't believe it. Did I really just pull off something so complex and effective? I really am worthy of being in the army!'

As Victor's turn came, the man drew his next talisman and frowned, thinking, 'Alright, this has just gotten really complicated. Luckily, I already had something planned for this.'

With that in mind, the man said, "I chose to use the second effect so I wouldn't take in damage, and I still don't regret that. If I hadn't used that effect, I probably would have been defeated."

He then proceeded to slap a talisman on top of Gernia and added, "I have to admit, Sir Neil, you are indeed a worthy opponent. You're actually surprised me in many ways, but I'm afraid your good fortune has run out! I have nothing against you personally, but if you stand in my way, I won't hold back!"

With that, Gernia flew into the orange-haired man's graveyard as he was soon replaced by a dark-grey dragon with red lines on his wings. With bloodshot eyes, Victor introduced him as Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon, Neil staring at the beast in horror.

"Wait, how did you summon that?" Taylor asked, "It's level eight, isn't it?"

"True, but I can get away with only one tribute if the sacrificial demon happens to be a zombie," Victor explained, "I commend you for drawing out a demon hero, but I'm afraid his use was short-lived."

Neil's eyes and mouth were wide with terror as the dragon sent a burst of dark energy into Grenosaurus. The T-Rex let out a loud roar as he was sent into the blond's graveyard, the energy hitting his armour as his damage points dropped to sixteen hundred.

Victor then set a talisman into a slot and ended his turn, Neil trembling while thinking, 'No! I finally summoned him and yet I couldn't keep him out for more than one turn! What kind of duellist am I!?'

However, just as he was starting to doubt himself, Taylor spoke up and exclaimed, "Hey, Neil, don't lose faith just yet!"

The blond turned to her as she grinned and said, "Don't forget, you still have your Mystletainn! And his power is still really high!"

Neil blinked and nodded, a serious look in his eyes as he thought, 'That's right. That dragon may have destroyed my Grenosaurus, but Mystletainn combined with Aklys is still more than strong enough to take him down.'

Victor seemed unfazed by these words, but Neil refused to let this get to him as he drew his next talisman. He grinned as he knew this was just enough to earn him a victory, the man exclaiming, "I now summon Flying Kamakiri!" as he placed a talisman next to Mystletainn.

This brought forth a green dragonfly with claws on his legs. And while he was nowhere near strong enough to defeat the zombie dragon, his power combined with Mystletainn's was enough to bring Victor's damage points down to zero this turn.

However, Leroy did not look too confident as Taylor turned to him, the old man smiling and saying, "That Neil really is something else."

But just as Mystletainn went in for the attack, Victor revealed his set talisman and exclaimed, "I now activate the trap, Spellbinding Circle!"

Neil's eyes widened in horror as he exclaimed, "OH NO, I KNOW WHAT THAT DOES!" as a pentagram appeared over the dragon and lowered itself so it surrounded his waist. The dragon let out a loud cry as his muscles reduced in mass by a little bit.

Taylor blinked and asked, "What did that do?" as Neil groaned, "Not only does it trap a demon in place, but it also lowers that demon's attack power by seven hundred."

'Yes, this is it,' Victor thought with a grin as Neil ended his turn, 'I'll finally have my revenge, father!'

The orange-haired knight remembered how when he was five, his mother would tell him stories about what a great war hero his father was. Though she hardly ever talked about how he was struck down in the line of battle, she would bring it up without really thinking about it every now and then.

It was not until Victor was ten, though, that he looked through the history books and discovered that the man responsible for his father's death was Duel Kingdom's best soldier at the time, a man by the name of Green Dragon. Sure, he may have disappeared long ago, but Victor always believed he was still living in Duel Kingdom.

The portrait of Green Dragon featured in the history books had always been emblazoned into the orange-haired man's mind. Because of this, he was certain that Leroy was this man, only thirty years older.

"I never got to know my father!" Victor exclaimed as he drew his next talisman, "And it's all your fault, Green Dragon! You will pay the price for my suffering!"

"Seriously, what is he talking about?" Taylor asked as Leroy replied, "No clue. I don't know any war heroes. I'm just a delivery man," the old man scratching the side of his head.

"To think you're still spouting bullshit at this point," Victor growled before looking at his talisman and adding, "Boy, you're lucky the talisman I drew isn't something I can use. But even so, I won't let you go undamaged this turn."

With that in mind, he had his dragon send a blast of dark energy into Kamakiri, the insect flying into Neil's graveyard as the blond knight took in the blast to his armour. This brought his damage points down to six hundred as Victor stated, "See that? You have nothing left."

"Shows what you know," the blond knight remarked with a smirk, "When Flying Kamakiri is destroyed, I can choose a wind based demon with fifteen hundred attack or less from my deck and summon it."

Looking over his options, the blond knight saw the perfect choice as he stated, "I choose Armoured Dragon Level Three!" Victor's eyes widening as he thought, 'He can't possibly have-'

a bright-orange dragon with silver armour on his wrists, torso, neck and skull took form. But why was Victor was intimidated by this? He seemed to know of this demon and yet despite his incredibly low attack power, he seemed scared.

All became clear when Neil drew his next talisman and grinned, saying, "Well, look at that. I have an even better setup than I first thought."

Taylor grinned with excitement as Leroy thought, 'Could he really have that good of a combination?'

"First, I activate the special power of my Armoured Dragon!" Neil exclaimed as the orange dragon flew into his graveyard, the man adding, "By sacrificing Armoured Dragon Level Three, I can special summon Armoured Dragon Level Five from my deck!"

A red dragon with a similar look but a much larger build appeared. This one's armour was a darker shade of grey and had spikes attached to the ends of his wrist guards, the front of his belly armour and his mace-like shoulder guards. He also had drills coming out of the sides of his arms and his knees.

'I was right,' Victor thought with his teeth gritted, 'He really does have it.'

"However, this demon's power is equal to that of your dragon," Neil said with a grin, "So if they were to do battle, they would both be destroyed. So to avoid that, I now sacrifice Mystletainn in order to summon Dragunity Arma Levyaten!"

'No,' Victor thought as Mystletainn was replaced by a black dragon covered in orange armour. This dragon wielded a longer blade with a similar design and have big falcon wings to go along with a pair of dragon wings attached to his hips. With his attack power at twenty-six hundred, he was just strong enough to overpower Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon.

"Despite this demon being level eight," Neil explained, "I can summon him by sacrificing a demon equipped with a Dragunity demon. Since Mystletainn was equipped with Aklys, he fit that description perfectly!"

'No!' Victor thought with his teeth gritted, 'You don't understand what you're doing! That man IS Green Dragon! How do you not see that!?'

"You may have been in the army longer than me," Neil said with a grin, "but new doesn't exactly equal weaker."

With that in mind, Levyaten charged at the zombie dragon and rammed his sword into his chest. The dragon let out a loud cry and flew into Victor's graveyard, the orange-haired man taking in a blow to his armour as his damage points dropped to eighteen hundred.

And with that, Armoured Dragon proceeded to leap at him with his fists raised and rammed them both into his chest, reducing his damage points to zero as his armour came open and fell off. Victor coughed up a bit of blood and fell hard on his back, Neil's eyes and mouth wide open as he started in complete silence.

Taylor noticed this and asked, "Neil, are you okay?" the blond knight uttering, "I-I-I..."

Leroy smiled as the black-haired woman still looked a little concerned, but all of that left when Neil rose his arms in the air and exclaimed, "I DID IT! I ACTUALLY WON! I DEFEATED AN ENEMY SOLDIER! I FINALLY WON A DUEL!"

Taylor had a big smile as she said, "Yes, you really did," Victor slowly getting up and groaning, "Well, don't just dance around bragging about it. You won, so you may as well take my life."

However, Neil simply shook his head with a more serious expression and remarked, "Sorry, but I don't believe that killing is the answer," the blond knight relinquishing the magic field, "You may be the enemy, but you're still a person."

'At least this man's not on the level of Green Dragon,' Victor thought as he let out a sigh, Leroy simply beaming like a child and saying, "Good show, Neil! You really put it to him!"

'What is your angle?' Victor thought as Taylor walked over to him and handcuffed his wrists together, 'Why are you acting oblivious? You have incredible duelling skills. What reason could you possibly have to hide your identity?'

Note: There is no doubt in my mind that Impenetrable Attack's second effect can probably prevent this from working in the actual game, so don't try this if you're using this card in real life. Just add this to the tiny list of rules I've broken for story purposes so far.


	31. Chapter 31

Today had certainly been a success for Duel Kingdom, or at least Izy and Neil. Both felt like they had accomplished a lot today as their opponents had been dragged to prison, their clients safe and sound.

Kevin looked around with wide eyes and said, "Wow, I'm in a castle," Eric all the while staring at him as Izy chuckled, "He's like a child, don't you think?"

Celeste cleared her throat as Kevin nodded and said, "Right, here you go," handing her the rare talisman he had been entrusted with and added, "It's in perfect condition. Though it does have some Rose Kingdom fingerprints on it. I hope that's okay."

The commander rolled her eyes and simply accepted the talisman, smiling at Izy and Eric while saying, "Good job. You two are dismissed."

Izy and Eric gave an army salute, exclaiming, "Thank you, ma'am!" as Izy gave out a light chuckle, feeling really good after that duel.

But as the knights headed off to enjoy their free time, Kevin just stood there with his hands behind his back. He had a big smile on his face as he blinked, looking as if he was waiting for his own orders.

"You're dismissed, too," Celeste uttered with a sigh as the man nodded and replied, "Okey-dokey, artichokey!" before turning around and walking out of the castle, the commander giving him the most confused look while shaking her head.

However, she was relieved to see Neil and Taylor arrive, taking a deep breath. At least they were not too weird for her to handle. And when the two gave their report, she was beyond pleased.

"Really," the commander said, "So Neil won that duel all by himself. Colour me impressed."

Neil blushed lightly as Taylor pinched his cheek, asking, "Why are you acting so embarrassed? You should be proud of yourself!" the blond knight laughing nervously and uttering, "R-Right."

All the while, Victor had been placed in a cell with anger still in his expression, Grant seeing this and groaning, "Oh, man, they got you too?" Shelly sighing, "It's amazing how much at a stand-still we were before. Now it seems like Duel Kingdom's dominating us."

"Yeah, it's total bullshit, isn't it?" Derrick replied with a sigh, "We're better than this! What are we doing rotting in jail!? That Taylor will pay, I swear to God!"

The man then sighed and turned to Victor, asking, "So, who was it who put you away?" the orange-haired knight taking a deep breath and replying, "He was a very surprising opponent, one who seemed to lack so much confidence and yet commanded so much power. I'll never forget his name."

"No need to be so cryptic," Derrick remarked, Rachel nodding and saying, "I'm curious, too."

"Of course," Victor replied, "He goes by the name Sir Neil," Derrick's eyes and mouth wide open as he spat out some dirt he had stuffed in his mouth for sustenance.

"Are you serious!?" the man spat with a light snicker, "Oh, come on! That guy's the biggest wimp I've ever faced! Maybe you've lost talent with your old age!"

"Shut it!" Victor retorted, "I don't know if he was weak when he faced you, but the man I faced today had incredible skill!" Rachel groaning, "Would you two shut up? You're giving me a headache!"

Darien and Cole simply let out a simultaneous sigh, Darien groaning, "I want out of this cell. Rachel and Shelly are fine, but nothing too special," Shelly sighing, "Men," before adding, "Look, Darien, do not get the wrong impression, but I am only going to do this once."

Darien rose an eyebrow, Cole equally confused as the woman lifted up the right side of her prison shirt, exposing her bosom as the men stared briefly. And just as quickly as she had lifted the shirt, she quickly put it back down saying, "You may thank me later," Grant staring and asking, "Since when were you so willing to do something like that for anyone? I thought you had more dignity."

"Well, maybe I miss having men look at me, okay?" Shelly asked with a look of embarrassment, Victor sighing while thinking, 'This is the new generation of knights? Only ten years and dignity has already gone out the window.'

He then narrowed his eyelids as his mind added, 'Still, to think Green Dragon is hiding out in the open. What is he planning? I need to escape from this cell and confront him.'

During this time, Stephanie and Tina had returned to the kingdom with their report, Tina biting her lower lip as Stephanie sighed, "I'm sorry, Clement, but we were unable to retrieve the talisman."

As her redheaded sister covered her head and trembled, Clement let out a sigh and replied, "Well, at least you didn't let yourselves get arrested. Our numbers have started to drop as of late."

The commander then looked over some further reports and asked, "By the way, who was it who stopped you? I'm assuming you at least found the delivery man, right?"

Tina was still scared by the mere thought of that duel as her blue-haired sister replied, "Well, Prince Eric was one of them, but the one who really made everything difficult for us was his partner, some girl named Izy."

"Izy?" Clement asked with a look of confusion, "Can't say I've ever heard that name before. So, how exactly was she better than the prince of all people?"

Victoria and Iris were walking by when he heard this, Victoria's ears perked up as she whispered, "Izy. Wasn't that one of the people with Eric when we faced him?" Iris nodding as the two women decided they should hear this.

"She had these strange spellcasters in her deck," Stephanie replied, "She called them pendulums," Victoria raising an eyebrow. Izy had not used these on them, so neither she nor Iris knew of their existence.

"Pendulums?" Clement asked, "You mean like that thing that rocks back and forth in a grandfather clock?"

Tina nodded as Stephanie replied, "Yes, they give this strange ability to summon as many demons from her hand as she can as long as they're between two levels engraved on the sides of each talisman. But they have more advantages, ones so complicated that I can't even begin to explain them in a way that makes sense."

"Well, that sounds beyond overpowered," Clement uttered as he nodded and added, "Thank you very much. I shall let the king and queen know of this right away. We might need to get our hands on some of these pendulums ourselves, though I wonder how difficult it'll be to find them."

Victoria, all the while, gasped and whispered, "Hey, what if we get our hands on such things? We could end this war once and for all," Iris saying, "But I thought we were already strong enough."

"Well, we are, but this'll make things ten times easier," the princess replied with a grin, "We'll be the true heroes of the kingdom, the duo that singlehandedly ended the dispute between our lands!"

Iris nodded and smiled lightly, saying, "If you're sure of this, then so am I."

During this time, Miranda was out in the forest, looking around while saying, "Now, if I was dressed in a cloak and causing problems, where would I hide?" all the while sporting her new gauntlet and thinking, 'This is so cool. I feel like I've been blessed with the power of the gods themselves.'

At that moment, she discovered a cave and thought, 'That looks kind of suspicious,' the woman entering and spotting the cloaked figure eating a wolf he had just shaved and roasted, the man laughing and saying, "Guess it was the human that was destined to eat you, eh?" before sighing, "That was horrible. I need to come up with something better next time."

Miranda took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, be professional,' as she strapped on her main gauntlet and formed her armour, shouting, "GET UP AND FIGHT ME, YOU FOWL BEAST!"

The cloaked man turned to face her, his hood just conveniently up to cover his face as he shrugged and said, "Well, what do you know? Someone actually found my hideout."

He then rose to his feast and added, "By the way, I'm not a beast. I'm a human, like you," as he revealed his own gauntlet under a covered sleeve, Miranda retorting, "Do not mock me, mysterious knight! I am the top soldier of Rose Kingdom, Miranda, and I am here to put an end to your reign!"

"Is that so?" the cloaked figure remarked, "Look, I'd rather settle this without having to duel you, but if you insist on getting in the way of my plans, I can't be held responsible for the injuries you sustain."

"You won't act so smug after I show you the power of my left gauntlet!" Miranda retorted as she brought up the magic field. The cloaked figure had to admit he was surprised when dark magic came from said glove, covering the area in it as the man's damage points dropped to two thousand, Miranda's rising to five thousand.

The cloaked man's eyes widened, his jaw dropped under his hood as the woman explained, "This new gauntlet of mine was forged from a magic stone. As you can see, it carries with it the power to weaken my opponents while making me, the wearer stronger."

"So you came more prepared than the others," the cloaked man replied before folding his arms, "but honestly, I'm kinda disappointed. You say you're the best and yet you rely on cheap methods to improve your odds. Seems kind of cowardly to me, wouldn't you say?"

Miranda's eye twitched as she shook her head and thought, 'No, he's trying to psyche me out! Even if he does have a point, I have to think about the mission, not my pride!'

With that, the woman drew five talismans and stated, "Since I issued the challenge, I get to choose who goes first, and I would like to go!" the cloaked knight bowing his head and replying, "That's fine by me."

As she looked over her hand, Miranda noticed one particular trap that could help her greatly, namely Magic Cylinder. Seeing that, she just knew that if the cloaked knight summoned his Five-Headed Dragon, this would guarantee her a victory. And with that in mind, she set it into a slot.

But to up her chances, she placed another talisman face-down on the middle square of her gauntlet. The demon in question was one known as Old Vindictive Magician, and if flipped face-up, Miranda could choose one of her opponent's demons and send it to the graveyard. Needless to say, this setup certainly worked in her favour.

And Miranda's move was not quite over as she set one last talisman and ended her turn, saying, "Alright, your move."

"That's an awful lot of talismans," the hooded man replied as he drew a talisman, thinking, 'Okay, I can't play around with her too much. She's already brought my damage points rather low.'

As such, the man started off by activating Pot of Greed, allowing him to draw two new talismans. He then proceeded to place another talisman into a slot saying, "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and target that first talisman you set!"

Miranda gasped as she thought, 'Did he know?' but put on a more calm look as her cylinder trap was sent to the graveyard. She could not allow him to know that her defending demon could make things more difficult for him.

The cloaked knight proceeded to place a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet, bringing forth a blue dragon with a pointy head and wings missing their flaps named Luster Dragon. He had a very high attack power for level four, so Miranda knew it would be good to dispose of him.

However, she was surprised when the cloaked knight did not attack, the man setting a talisman and saying, "Well, that ends my turn."

'Wait, could he know?' Miranda thought before shaking her head, her mind adding, 'No, he probably has something else planned. But I won't let him.'

With that in mind, the woman proceeded to reveal her trap, saying, "I activate Magician's Circle! Now each of us can summon a spellcaster with two thousand attack or less from our decks, and if you don't have one, you simply won't summon anything!"

"Well, that's a shame," the cloaked figure replied with a grin, "I only have dragons in my deck."

Miranda then thought, 'It seems he did not see this coming,' the woman bringing forth a mage just strong enough to take on Luster Dragon.

The magician in question was an elven woman with braided dark-pink hair. He wore a blue sweater and held a golden staff and went under the name Disenchanter.

"So you used your spell to bring out a level five mage," the cloaked figure said with a nod of his head, "Not bad."

"That's right, and it's only going to get better," Miranda stated as she still had a normal summon left. As such, she placed a talisman next to her magician and brought forth a woman with long black hair and a green robe named Magical Exemplar.

She then inserted a talisman into a slot and said, "Now I equip my Exemplar with Mage Power. This increases the attack and defence power of the equipped fighter by five hundred for each spell I control, including this one."

This seemed so as an aura surrounded Exemplar. However, it seemed there was more to this as a pair of lights circled around the woman.

"What is this?" the cloaked knight asked as Miranda explained, "This is Exemplar's special power. For each spell card I activate, she gains two spell counters. For each one I remove, I can special summon a spellcaster from my hand or graveyard whose level is equal to the number of counters I used. Unfortunately, I have no desire to use that power, so I'll simply attack you with my mages."

But as she had Exemplar unleash a blast of energy from her hands, the cloaked knight revealed his trap and said, "Sorry, but I had Negate Attack at the ready," Miranda frowning as Exemplar's attack flew into a vortex, said vortex remaining there as the cloaked man stated, "Negate Attack is a well-known spell, but in case you're unaware, this not only stops your attack, but it also ends your battle phase."

"I know that," Miranda grumbled while thinking, 'At least I have a countermeasure for this.'

With that in mind, the woman flipped her Vindictive Magician face-up into attack position and said, "I now activate the power of Old Vindictive Magician!" the cloaked knight blinking.

This mage was not a pretty sight as her face was hideously deformed. She had long grey hair and wore red armour that looked far too big for her to support. In her hand was a green staff that she pointed at Luster Dragon, sending a magical blast into the demon and sending him into the cloaked man's graveyard.

"There, now you have nothing to fight back with!" Miranda exclaimed as the cloaked knight shrugged his shoulders and replied, "True, but you can't attack now that your battle phase is over," Miranda realizing she had no choice but to end her turn. But even so, she had two powerful mages out right now. There was no way the cloaked figure could possibly respond to that.

But as he drew his next talisman, a smirk formed on his face as he said, "I'm sorry to say it, but your defeat was inevitable the minute you chose to use your magician's power too early," Miranda's eyes wide in terror as the man added, "You should have saved such an incredible power for when I truly had a demon worthy of such treatment on my side of the field."

With this in mind, the man activated a talisman and said, "I start with the spell Lightning Vortex! At the cost of one talisman, I can destroy every face-up demon you have! If you had left that magician of yours face-down, I wouldn't be able to do this right now!"

Miranda shook her head in absolute terror as the man discarded a talisman, a bolt of lightning coming down and striking all three of the woman's magicians. And with her side completely defenceless, the cloaked man could easily attack her.

However, it seemed he had more planned as he said, "I now activate Card of Sanctity, allowing us each to draw until we have six talismans," both knights doing just that as Miranda thought, 'There's no way he could have drawn exactly what he needed, is there?'

However, it seemed the cloaked man had done just that as he grinned and said, "Well, you put up a valiant effort, but I'm afraid this duel is mine."

With all said and done, the man activated Polymerization before sending the remaining talismans in his hand into the graveyard. Thus five dragons took form on the field and combined together to form the Five-Headed Dragon, just like before when he faced Pamela and Phoebe.

Miranda could not hide her fear any longer. Her eyes and mouth were wide open as the dragon sent five elemental blasts toward her, all five combining together and striking her. As a result, not only did her armour come off, but even the gauntlet forged from magic had been shattered as the woman fell on her back, coughing up blood.

The man took a deep breath and relinquished the magic field, saying, "Well, it seems relying on dirty tactics didn't help you as much as you thought it would. You still fell to me."

The woman slowly got up, coughing and grunting, "Why don't you just kill me?" the man sighing, "Because there would be no satisfaction to be gained from that. What I'm planning involves everyone being saved, and if I were to kill you, then that would be one less person I'm saving."

'Saving?' Miranda thought as the man stated, "Just return to the kingdom and get yourself healed. Oh, and quit the professional act. You clearly have good skills as a duellist. I think that's good enough. You don't need to act like a complete slave to your kingdom."

Miranda blinked as he grinned under his hood and added, "In other words, there's nothing wrong with being yourself."

With that, the woman reactivated her gauntlet and summoned a wolf with one ferocious-looking head with purple fur and a more sleek head with blue fur named Mythical Beast Cerberus. She then mounted onto his back and took off, secretly grateful to have been spared.

At that moment, the cloaked woman entered the base and asked, "Did I just see someone exiting this place on the back of a demon?" the man nodding and replying, "Seems Rose Kingdom will know soon enough where we are. I guess we'll have to relocated."

The woman let out a disappointed sigh as the man simply laughed, "It'll be like shopping for a new home! I never really liked this cave, anyway!"

Just where would the cloaked man relocated and would anyone be able to find it? Either way, he was definitely a bigger threat than anyone could have imagined, especially with the way he worked around such a massive disadvantage so easily.


	32. Chapter 32

Nightfall had finally come as the knights were all ready for bed. After crawling under the covers, Celeste looked at Izy and said, "Hey, Izy, you've been doing a really good job since you joined the army."

The brunette rose an eyebrow as the commander added, "Sorry if that's a little sudden. It's just, since you lost to Rose Kingdom's princess, you seemed to be looking a little down in the dumps. I just want you to-"

"Yeah, it's fine now," Izy replied with a grin, "Thanks, but I already know one loss doesn't mean I'm unworthy. And I also heard you've lost a few duels in your career too, so I'll be okay."

The woman then let out a yawn and closed her eyes, saying, "Night," as Celeste blinked and thought, 'Who told her about my losses?'

All the while, Neil had the biggest grin on his face as he lay in bed, one knight whispering, "What's he so happy about?" another replying, "Didn't you hear? He actually defeated one of Rose Kingdom's soldiers today."

The blond, all the while, thought, 'From this moment on, I'm gonna do my best to get even stronger. I came close to losing today, but I still won. I must keep that up.'

Meanwhile, Miranda had returned to Rose Kingdom, still badly hurt from her duel. Luckily, she could still move, but it was certainly unpleasant.

Clement was just about to head off to bed when he saw her, the man blinking and saying, "Wow, you're back early," looking over her wounds and asking, "Did you actually find his hideout?"

Miranda took a deep breath and replied, "Yes. He was a lot tougher than everyone made him out to be," Clement staring wide-eyed as the woman bit her lip and sighed, "Yes, he defeated me. I wasn't even able to land a hit on him."

"Wow," the commander uttered while rubbing the back of his head, "Well, you did the best you could. Anyway, you'd better rest up. You look like you're in pretty bad condition."

Miranda let out a sigh, thinking, 'Right, I need to be myself,' the woman bowing her head and replying, "Thank you, sir. I could certainly use the rest."

As the woman headed off toward the barrack, Clement let out a sigh and shook his head. It really seemed like no one could defeat this stranger.

But as the general was about to head off to bed himself, he froze in place and thought, 'If our best knight can't do it with a huge advantage, maybe-' before shaking his head and groaning, "What am I thinking? I can't violate the rules!"

Meanwhile, in Duel Kingdom, it seemed this night would not be as peaceful as one would expect. Despite there being a night staff now, it seemed that the cloaked woman had found a way to sneak past them, all the while thinking, 'So, they've upped the guards. Not sure why they waited until now to do that.'

The woman slowly and carefully made her way to the pond, breathing a sigh of relief as it seemed no one had spotted her. He then squinted her eyes and focused specifically on the water, noticing one particular fish swimming around.

'Alright, here's hoping this works,' the woman thought as she closed her eyes and formed a magical sphere around her body. She then stepped into the pond, the sphere keeping her from getting wet.

Most of the fish swam away, but the one she had her sights set on simply stared at her as her eyes were wide open, a light glow coming from them. The fish then slowly swam toward her as she picked it up and held it upside down, shaking it by the tail.

One of the knights keeping guard tapped his partner on the shoulder and whispered, "I have to pee," as the other knight rolled her eyes and remarked, "Well, don't go here. Use a bush or something."

"Oh, of course," the man replied with a nervous grin before heading toward a bush and noticing the pond.

His eyes shifted back and forth as he thought, 'I'm sure no one will mind this,' but just as he was about to undo his pants, he spotted the cloaked woman still shaking the fish as he groaned, "Really?"

The man then exclaimed, "WHO GOES THERE!?" his hand close to the gem on his gauntlet as the woman lost her concentration.

The fish managed to escape from her hold as her magic sphere left her, her cloak soaking wet now. But this hardly mattered as she bit her lower lip and started to run toward the other side of the pond.

"OH, COME ON!" the knight groaned as he called for backup, his partner being the first to arrive. And while she was rather annoyed at first, when she saw the cloaked woman, she blinked and said, "Oh, it really is important."

But as the two headed into the pond, ignoring how dirty the water was, the woman had already made it to the other side. She then leapt up onto a tree branch, the male knight blinking and asking, "How did she do that?"

The woman then leapt from tree to tree before making her escape from the back yard and making her way to the bridge. She then ran across it as it seemed the guards had already been knocked unconscious, and it was plain as day that this was her doing.

All-in-all, while whatever the woman's plans were had been foiled, she had clearly gotten away as the male knight let out a sigh and said, "Well, that was embarrassing."

He then looked down and added, "I knew that was going to happen," his ally groaning, "Ew!"

The following morning, Celeste had received a report of the night's events as she stated, "So you say that she was in the lake holding a fish upside-down and shaking it."

"That's exactly what she was doing," the male knight replied as Celeste nodded and said, "Well, that is certainly weird. I wonder what she'd want with a fish."

The commander then shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, thank you, soldier. You are dismissed," the man bowing his head and yawning, making his way toward the barrack.

'What would she want with a fish?' Celeste thought, 'It can't be due to hunger. There's no reason for anyone to come here for that.'

Whatever the case, it might be worth it to try and find the fish that the cloaked woman had gone after and find out why anyone would want it that badly. But there were lots of fish in that pond. What results could they possibly get from this?

This thought would have to wait when breakfast came around, Izy feeling so much better this morning. Needless to say, Eric and Will were both very happy to see this as the prince cleared his throat and got up with his glass of water in hand, exclaiming, "Everyone, I would like your attention, please!"

The other knights turned to him as he said, "I know it seems strange to make such a big deal about this, but I would like to propose a toast in honour of Neil for winning his first duel against a Rose Kingdom Soldier!"

The blond knight blushed and remarked, "Oh, come on, do you have to treat it like such a major accomplishment!?" Taylor pinching his cheek with a grin and cooing, "Come on, Neily, just accept the praise. This is a big deal."

"True, but no one else has ever gotten this treatment," Neil groaned as one knight stated, "Well, that's because it didn't take anyone else as long to pull it off. If anything, we're all happy for you."

"Yeah, and we heard that your opponent was a highly-experienced veteran," another added as one knight asked, "Really? I'm even more impressed."

Neil's face was beet red now as all of the knights in the area rose their cups and clinked them together. But as embarrassing as this was, the blond knight was also happy as he knew he had truly earned this. His victory yesterday was not a result of luck but strategy, strategy that he never thought himself capable of.

Meanwhile, in Rose Kingdom, Victoria and Iris were having their own breakfast as the princess asked, "So, any idea where we could find other pendulum demons?"

Iris shrugged her shoulders and replied, "We would likely have to research them in order to figure that out, but there's no record of them in any of the books."

"And for all we know, the only other ones are probably scattered throughout the world," Victoria groaned, "and that Izy girl most likely has the only ones that exist in this region."

"That could be a possibility," Iris replied as the princess let out a disappointed sigh. As hard as it was to accept, that was reality and reality was harsh sometimes.

And soon enough, Victoria's mind would need to be elsewhere as once breakfast was finished, all of the knights were assembled for the day's assignments. Clement was still a tad shaken up from Miranda's report, but he tried his best not to show it as he stated, "Victoria, since the king was so impressed by your previous performance, you've been chosen for another rather high-level assignment."

The princess' eyes sparkled as Iris gave her a light smile, Clement adding, "This is something we normally only save for our best knights, but I think you might be worthy of this. It's an escort quest."

"Wait, you mean I'm actually being trusted to protect someone?" the princess uttered as the commander nodded and replied, "Since this kind of task is of the utmost importance, you may bring along anyone else who you believe will be of help to you."

Some of the other knights with strong reputations smiled with pride, feeling that they would be chosen. However, they were sadly disappointed when Victoria grinned and picked Iris, her violet-haired friend more than happy to have been chosen, even if she did see it coming a mile away.

Clement simply shrugged and explained, "Alright, your task is to guard Mr. Brown. Turns out our trade partner, Catfish Town, has been the victim of a few bandit incidents so their law enforcers require a bit of assistance. So we've chosen a few talismans we can risk parting with in the hopes that it'll help them, and Mr. Brown is supposed to deliver those."

Iris gave the princess a thumb up as the pink-haired woman gave an army salute and exclaimed, "You can count on us!"

"Good," Clement replied, "I'm certain I can," both women headed off as the commander thought, 'I hope I made the right call. One victory doesn't necessarily make her ready, does it?'

Soon enough, Victoria and Iris had met up with a middle-aged man dressed in a farmer outfit. He had a beard and a rather stocky build. This was Mr. Brown, his first named Eunice.

Upon seeing the princess, Eunice gasped and immediately bowed his head, asking, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Victoria rolling her eyes and replying, "No need to bow. I'm just here to make sure you deliver those talismans safely."

Iris gave the man a light nod as the man blinked and chuckled, replying, "Oh, terribly sorry. I plum forgot that you're a knight now. How's that going for you?" before gasping, "I shouldn't be having smalltalk with you, should I?"

"Please, I'd prefer it if you did," Victoria replied, "As long as I'm a knight, I want to be treated as such. So don't look at me as the princess of Rose Kingdom, okay?"

"Wow, if that ain't the most difficult task I've ever been given," Eunice uttered while rubbing the back of his head, "But, hey, I think it's great that you'd prefer not to be spoiled, so I'll do the best I can."

With all said and done, the group set off with Victoria and Iris each calling out a demon to carry them. Once again, Victoria brought out Elder of the Six Samurai while Iris decided to use Card Guard. Eunice could not help but feel impressed by this as his mode of transportation was a horse.

While this went on, Celeste had finished giving her knights their assignments as Nelson had been sent off in search of a pair of talismans discovered deep in the forest. The man gave an army salute and the most confident grin he could muster before heading off, though a part of him really hoped the cloaked figure would not care about these ones. As much as it pained him to admit it, he was a tad frightened of the very idea of facing that man in combat again.

And as he took off, the man proceeded to summon a green demon with a build that resembled a human combined with a goat. He also had long yellow horns pointed sideways on his head and went under the name Swamp Battleguard.

The demon normally stood on two legs but went down on all fours so Nelson could ride him, the man saying, "Alright, Swampy, mush!" the demon walking forward while his rider smirked, feeling more than confident in himself.

Meanwhile, Matt and Izy had been chosen to guard the school again as Matt asked, "Say, Izy, just out of curiosity, what do you think of Eric?"

The brunette rose an eyebrow and replied, "Well, I think he's a good guy. I thought that was pretty obvious."

"Actually, I meant something else by that," the man replied while rubbing the back of his neck, "I mean, hypothetically speaking, would you ever consider, say, dating him?"

Izy's eyes widened briefly as she tapped her chin. A week ago, she would have laughed at this question as it was just as she had told Catherine. She had no romantic interest in the prince. But after he had helped her improve so much, she was now uncertain as to how to answer that.

"Well, maybe," the brunette said with a shrug as Will gave her an odd look, the woman adding, "The thing is, I really like our friendship as it is. I mean, if he rejects me or we break up, just think about how awkward it would be for us to be in the same area together. We might not be able to work with each-other during quests because it'll just be so awkward being near each-other. You know what I mean?"

Will nodded and thought, 'She probably thinks the same way about me.'

However, the man then sported a confident smile and thought, 'But I would never break up with her, so we would never have that awkward moment, right?'

He then shook his head as his mind added, 'Best not to think about that. It's still her choice to make,' Izy not even questioning why Will had asked such an odd question. For all she knew, he was likely not the only one who thought she and Eric saw each-other that way, especially considering how they were always together.

After a couple of hours, Nelson was far into the forest while Victoria and Iris were getting alarmingly close to where he was headed. But while Iris was fully focused on the task given to the women, Victoria's eyes widened when she noticed two rectangular objects in the hole of a tree. How they had gotten there was anyone's guess, but the princess knew they were talismans.

With that in mind, she held up her hand and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Brown, I, um, need to take a quick pee break, and so does Iris."

"I do?" the woman's violet-haired friend asked with an eyebrow raised as Eunice shrugged and replied, "Well, if you gotta go, you gotta go."

With that, both women ran over to the tree as Iris asked, "What is it?" the princess hushing her and reaching into the tree hole to grab the talismans.

However, this proved slightly difficult as a squirrel grabbed hold of them and started pulling. The princess furled her brow and gritted her teeth, pulling as hard as she could until she eventually managed to pry them out. But as she stuck out her tongue at the squirrel, she quickly received an acorn to the face.

The pink-haired woman scowled before shrugging her shoulders. Her look of irritation then became one of glee as she said, "Look," holding up the talismans as Iris' eyes sparkled.

"Now I understand," she said in the same monotone voice as always, Victoria nodding and squealing, "Look at them! I had a feeling, and I was right! If the description we heard was right, then these are actual pendulums!"

And it certainly seemed so. One talisman was labelled Flash Knight was the other was called The Twin Kings, Founders of the Empire.

"Such names and images," the princess said, "They seem like members of royalty, almost like they were meant to be found by me."

Iris gave her friend a light smile and said, "That's wonderful, though we should probably get back to our quest," the princess nodding and replying, "Right, of course."

But just as the two were about to head back to their client, a voice came from behind them, stating in a gruff tone, "Pardon me, but I believe those talismans you're holding are mine!"

Victoria and Iris slowly turned to see Nelson standing there with his arms folded, the man returning his demon to his deck and saying, "You heard me. Hand over the talismans. They're property of Duel Kingdom!"

"But didn't you just say they were yours?" Victoria remarked as Nelson held up his finger, but he could not come up with a good retort as his mouth and wide stayed open for a few seconds.

"Let's go," Iris said, "It's obvious this man isn't that smart."

This seemed to strike a nerve as Nelson fumed and spat, "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I'M ONE OF DUEL KINGDOM'S BEST KNIGHTS!" the man pressing the gem on his gauntlet and forming a magic field.

"Hey, girls, everything alright?" Eunice asked before gasping at the sight of the magic field. He may not have known much about talismans, but he knew what the setup for a duel looked like.

Victoria simply frowned and sighed, "Guess I should have been more prepared for this," both her and Iris latching their gauntlets onto their hands.

Nelson rose an eyebrow as they formed their armour from inside, the man nodding and saying, "Oh, I see. You two are from Rose Kingdom. I've heard stories of these special gauntlets and I have to admit, that was pretty cool."

The man then smirked and added, "But don't think for a minute that I'm gonna let you take those talismans," Victoria frowning and thinking, 'I'd better not put them into my deck just yet. I don't completely know how pendulums work, and if I use them the wrong way, I'll end up losing my arm.'

Even so, she was certain that she could still win with her normal talismans while Iris gave her a confident smile and said, "Come on, let's do this together. We still have a task to finish and he's getting in our way."


	33. Chapter 33

There was no way Nelson would allow Victoria and Iris to beat him as he drew five talismans. He could not care less about what they were doing out here, but they were getting in the way of his own assignment and that was enough for him.

The princess and her ally drew their own talismans as well, Nelson smirking and saying, "You know what? I'd feel bad picking on delicate flowers such as yourselves, so you can go first."

"Oh, how kind," Victoria remarked while narrowing her eyelids, though a part of her was relieved that the man was not treating her like this just because of her heritage. In fact, he was one of the many citizens of Duel Kingdom who had no idea what she looked like, so he did not even know who she was.

Iris simply saw a good opportunity here and said, "Hey, Victoria, you can go first," the princess asking, "You sure?"

The violet-haired woman nodded and replied, "Trust me on this one," the princess nodding and replying, "Alright. I'll hold you to that."

With that in mind, Victoria looked over her hand and said, "I'll start my turn by activating Double Summon," the pink-haired woman inserting a talisman into a slot on her gauntlet.

Nelson was familiar with this spell as he had a serious look on his face, Victoria proceeding to summon two Six Samurai warriors, one being a pale man with bronze armour that had orange markings on it named Zanji. The other was her Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, and yet despite his power being very high, Nelson looked underwhelmed.

"Not sure how you brought out that level five warrior of yours, but that still seems like a waste of a perfectly good spell," Nelson said tauntingly while Victoria frowned and thought, 'He's acting way too casual. He can't possibly have a countermeasure against Grandmaster, can he?'

With that in mind, the princess ended her turn by setting a talisman into a slot, specially a trap known as Musakani Magatama. That way, if Nelson had a talisman with the power to destroy any of hers, she could use this trap to negate the effect and destroy the talisman being used.

However, it seemed this trap might not be effective as when Nelson drew his next talisman, a smirk crossed his face as he exclaimed, "I start by summoning this bad boy, Photon Thrasher!" the man slapping a talisman onto the middle square of his gauntlet.

This brought forth a man dressed head to toe in a futuristic-looking blue armour with an orange X in the chest area. He also had a pointy helmet and held a long blade in hand, Victoria rather alarmed as his attack power was on par with that of her Grandmaster.

However, things would only get worse for her from here as the man stated, "Now, Photon Thrasher can only be special summoned if I control no other demons, and if I control any others, he can't attack. As such, I'm gonna have to rely primarily on him for the best results right now."

Now the princess seemed underwhelmed as Iris asked, "How do you plan to take full advantage of him, then?" Nelson replying, "Glad you asked. Allow me to demonstrate."

He then proceeded to place a talisman into a slot and tap it while explaining, "I now equip him with Big Bang Shot, raising his attack power by four hundred while also giving his piercing damage. That means if you ever try to defend, it won't work like it should."

Victoria gritted her teeth as this was rather intimidating. And the man still had more planned as he set another talisman, stating, "I now activate Double Attack. At the cost of one demon in my hand with an attack power higher than that of my Photo Thrasher, he can attack twice this turn."

Not only was it surprising that the man actually did have something in his hand that fit that criteria right now, but to think someone who seemed so rash had thought up something so smart was quite amazing. And now the princess knew she would need to brace herself as Photon Thrasher proceeded to charge at Zanji and slice him in half, sending him into Victoria's graveyard.

The pink-haired woman gritted her teeth as she took a strike to her armour, her damage points dropping to thirty-three hundred. And it only got worse as the futuristic knight proceeded to do the same to Grandmaster, once again delivering a blow to Victoria's armour. This brought her damage points down to twenty-nine hundred as Nelson folded his arms with a smirk.

"Normally I'd deal more damage than that on the first turn, but you did do an okay job protecting yourself," the man stated, "But if all you can do is reduce the damage you take in, you're pretty much screwed."

Victoria frowned and turned to Iris, saying, "Please tell me you have something that'll help us," the violet-haired woman nodding and replying, "Don't worry. I already had my move planned before his turn even started."

Nelson rose an eyebrow and remarked, "You're bluffing, right?" the violet-haired woman shaking her head and saying, "I'm afraid not, and I'm going to prove it starting with Allure of Darkness. This will allow us each to draw two new talismans in exchange for a dark demon from the hand. If one of us doesn't have a dark demon, then she must discard her entire hand."

Victoria stared wide-eyed and retorted, "Are you crazy!? I only have two dark warriors in my deck, and I'm not holding either one of them right now!" Iris nodding and replying, "True, but I have faith that this will work."

"Well, if you say so," the princess replied, thinking, 'Besides, this talisman in my hand isn't that great anyway.'

And much to her surprise, one of the talismans she drew was The Immortal Bushi. This was perfect as she wasted no time sending him to her graveyard, Iris doing the same with one of her talismans. And things only seemed to look up for the women when a big dagger flew out of Iris' graveyard, striking Photon Thrasher and sending him to the graveyard.

"What just happened!?" Nelson exclaimed with a look of terror, Iris giving the man a light smile and replying, "That's the power of Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World. If he's discarded by the result of a talisman's power, I can choose one demon on the field and destroy it."

Victoria's eyes sparkled, a big grin forming as she exclaimed, "Wow, you are the best!" Nelson's eye twitching as Iris proceeded to summon a grey skeletal demon with green on his fingers and pelvis and finger bones for hair, Iris saying, "I'd like you to meet Brron, Mad King of Dark World."

Nelson gritted his teeth as the demon charged at him and struck his armour, bringing his damage points down to twenty-two hundred. And it did not seem to end there as Iris explained, "When Brron damages your armour, I can choose to send one of my talismans to the graveyard, and I pick this one."

"Wait, what was the point of that?" Nelson asked as Iris replied, "Now that this particular demon is in the graveyard, I can use his power. By bringing Brron back to my hand, I can special summon him from the graveyard. Say hello to Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World."

Victoria and Nelson were both stunned as the skeleton of a large dragon appeared. He wore silver armour along his torso and had dark purple horns on his chest, chin, ear holes, knees and wrists. Needless to say, this was a fearsome beast, and Nelson could not help but feel fortunate that Iris' attack phase had ended.

Iris ended her turn by setting two talismans into slots as Victoria grinned and gave her a thumb up. That really was an incredible strategy she had pulled off. Not only had she dealt a good amount of damage, but she had even bolstered their defences.

Nelson simply frowned and said, "Not bad," and drew a talisman. But while he looked confident, the truth was that his hand was a tad underwhelming. Currently, all he had were two demons he could not summon right now and a spell. And although the spell was Pot of Greed, how was he to know it would give him the talismans he needed right now?

With that in mind, it was not as if he had any other options. And besides, he was one of Duel Kingdom's best. There was no way he could lose, even under a disadvantage. After all, this was nowhere near as bad as facing the cloaked knight and his Five-Headed Dragon.

With that in mind, the man grinned and exclaimed, "Alright, watch yourselves, ladies, because I'm about to show you the true extent of my power!"

He then activated his spell and drew two new talismans, Iris feeling more than confident that her traps would certainly prove whatever he had in store meaningless. But it truly seemed like Nelson had something incredible in store, for when he looked at his expanded hand, a big grin formed on his face.

"Watch and be amazed and I summon my strongest demon with little to no effort!" the man exclaimed as he inserted a talisman into a slot and sent his fist into its side, "First, I activate Feast of the Wild Level Five! This allows me to summon two level five warriors from either my hand or my graveyard, but the only downside is that they can't attack and their powers won't work."

"Well, that seems like a waste," Victoria remarked as Iris shook her head and stated, "There's more to it than that."

"Seems your friend is quite intelligent, 'cause she's right," Nelson replied as he proceeded to slap two talismans onto his gauntlet with incredible force, his Swamp Battleguard and another who looked just like him only with red skin named Lava Battleguard taking form.

The princess now saw it. Both demons were weaker than Grapha, so it would make no sense to attack with either. Then there was also Nelson's statement earlier, and he was about to prove just how true it was as he slapped another talisman right on top of Lava Battleguard, both demons flying into the graveyard.

"And now by sacrificing both of my demons," Nelson stated with a big grin, "I call upon the mighty, devastating Battleguard King!"

The hulking ogre he had used against the cloaked knight took form, holding his massive club over his head and spinning it around. Victoria, all the while, gulped nervously as Iris simply turned her eyes toward her and gave her a light thumb up.

The princess felt a tad more reassured, hoping Iris' strategy was a truly good one as Nelson smirked and said, "I'll admit, you truly caught me off-guard, but this is the end of the line for you two," Eunice all the while uttering, "Don't feel too bad. I'll tell your commander that you did an excellent job."

"Don't worry, we won't lose," Iris stated in her same monotone voice as Nelson had his king charge toward Grapha with his club at the ready.

But just as the king was about to sent it into the dragon's head, Iris activated one of her talismans while saying, "I activate Rising Energy. At the cost of one talisman from my hand, I can raise the attack power of one of my demons by fifteen hundred for the remainder of the turn, and there's only one I can choose."

"No," Nelson uttered, his eyes and mouth wide open as Iris discarded one of her talismans, an aura surrounding Grapha as he let out a loud roar, sending a burst of dark fire from his mouth into Battleguard King.

The demon let out a low grunt as he flew into Nelson's graveyard, the man taking in a blow to his armour as his damage points dropped to one thousand. The man could not believe what had happened. He was not so sure about his pink-haired adversary, but Iris was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

And to make matters worse, he had nothing to protect himself with. He had no talismans in his hand, no traps set in case something went wrong. In short, he was completely defenceless.

"You can choose to surrender now and spare yourself the pain," Iris stated with a cold look, "It's the best thing you could do right now."

Nelson simply smirked and folded his arms, retorting, "Sorry, but I'm not giving you that satisfaction. I lost and I'm ready to receive my punishment like a real soldier."

Victoria simply turned to Iris and whispered, "Is it just me, or is this guy screwed up in the head?" Iris sighing, "I had a feeling he would be too proud and stubborn to run anyway."

With all said and done, Victoria drew one last talisman and grinned, saying, "Well, thanks to you, Iris, I don't even need my hand."

The princess then had Grapha send a burst of dark fire into Nelson's armour as his damage points went all the way down to zero. The man gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to show how much this irritated him, his armour coming off and falling to the ground.

"Alright, you got me," Nelson growled, "Just go ahead and kill me!"

However, unlike when she fought Eric, Victoria did not even need to think twice about this as she sighed, "You're not even worth it. Just go back to your kingdom."

Nelson's eye twitched as he uttered, "Not worth it?" the princess and her friend heading back to the path along with Eunice while the client exclaimed, "Wowee, that was incredible! I'm definitely in good hands!"

"I'm not worth it?" Nelson whimpered, light tears forming in his eyes as he bit his lower lip, "But I'm Duel Kingdom's powerhouse! How am I not worth it!?"

He then turned to what seemed like nothing and added, "You know, considering the amount of talk about potential death, there hasn't been a lot of that lately, has there?"

But while the women returned to their trek through the forest, Victoria had a look of disappointment on her face as she thought, 'Iris is really good. She definitely doesn't need pendulums to help her. I, on the other hand, really need these. I'm going to find out how they work and use them as soon as I can,' a serious look forming on her face as Iris gave her a light smile and said, "We did a good job, didn't we?"

The princess was about to give a sarcastic remark until she realized her friend was actually trying to cheer her up. With that in mind, she smiled and nodded, saying, "Yeah, we kicked ass."

During this time, Izy and Will returned to the castle to give their report. Today had been a rarity for Izy as she had gone the whole quest without having to duel anyone from Rose Kingdom. That was certainly different to say the least.

Needless to say, Celeste was happy with the report as she said, "Well, good job you two. You're dismissed," but before Izy and Will could go and spend their free time however they chose, the commander added, "By the way, would you like to go fishing by the pond later?"

The knights tensed up as they both laughed nervously, Celeste sighing, "This isn't just for fun. I'll explain later."

Izy and Will both looked at one-another and shrugged, Izy beaming and replying, "I would have at least come to watch anyway, so you can count on me."

"If she's in, so am I," Will added as Celeste replied, "Thanks, guys. I've already told Neil and Taylor to come too. I'm just waiting for Eric to return so I can tell him about this."

"Well, at least we won't be alone," Will stated with a light smile, Izy nodding in agreement as the two headed off to find something to do for the next little while.

Celeste then let out a sigh and thought, 'I've got to find that fish before that woman does again. Whatever reason she could possibly have for needing it can't be good.'

Later, during dinner, Celeste was still thinking about that when Nelson entered the dining hall, groaning, "Hey, guys. I'm back," the man breathing heavily as he was still weak from his duel.

"What happened to you?" Marie asked with an awkward look, Sevanne looking even more concerned as Lance gasped, "You didn't have a run-in with that cloaked rapscallion, did you!?"

"No, not him," Nelson replied with a sigh, "Though this was almost as bad. There were two knights from Rose Kingdom who had their sights set on the same talismans I'd been sent to find."

"Were they higher-ups?" Francine asked as Rocky smirked and remarked, "No way! Nelson wouldn't lose to even their higher-ranking guys, would he!?"

"I don't know about that," Nelson replied, "One of them didn't seem all that great, but her partner was really strong. I summoned my Battleguard King and she rendered him useless just like that."

Sevanne looked even more worried until Francine sighed, "What kind of talisman did she use?" Nelson replying, "Some kind of trap that made her demon insanely strong when I attacked it," the blond higher-up shrugging and remarking, "Sounds to me like she just had a better strategy than you."

Nelson fumed as Henry sighed, "Well, what's done is done. At least you're alive to tell us about this," Celeste nodding and adding, "And if I may add, you should probably go to the hospital wing with your condition."

"Screw that!" Nelson retorted, "I'm perfectly fine!" though his shaking body and burn marks said otherwise.

Sevanne did not even hesitate to get up as she marched over to him, pinching his ear and saying, "Come on, Nelson, you're going to the hospital wing," the redhead dragging him out of the dining hall as he whined, "BUT I DUN WANNA!"

Celeste simply shook her head as Phoebe sighed, "Boys, am I right?" Rocky enquiring, "I've heard that so many times, I gotta ask; what does that mean?" the twins slapping their foreheads.

Either way, the possibility of there being someone at least almost as threatening as the cloaked menace was quite an alarming thought. But right now, she had something much more important to focus on and she was not going to put it on hold because of this.

And later that evening, she would reveal this soon enough as Izy and the others arrived, the brunette giving the commander a soft smile and asking, "So, what are we fishing for?"

"Yeah, you said it was important, right?" Eric asked, "Did a fish eat one of your talismans or something?"

"I don't know, but it might be something like that," Celeste replied, "That hooded woman apparently came by last night."

"Oh god!" Neil exclaimed, his eyes wide with terror as the commander sighed, "It's okay. A couple of our knights stopped whatever she was planning, though she did get away again," the blond knight still frightened as Taylor pinched his cheek, cooing, "Hey, I thought Mister Scaredypants was gone now."

"I may be good now, but not that good," the blond knight remarked as Celeste proceeded to explain, "Anyway, she was seen in the middle of the pond holding a fight upside down and shaking it. I get the feeling there might be something important in that fish, so I want all of you to help me catch every fish in this pond and search them."

Taylor grinned and exclaimed, "That all!? I could do all of that for you!" the woman then turning to Neil and looking down, sighing, "Oh, never mind. I forgot, you'd rather not see that, would you?"

Neil's face was beet red as he uttered, "N-No, it's okay. This isn't for f-f-fun, it's b-business. S-So go a-a-ahead."

The black-haired woman nodded and replied, "I'll have all those fish caught in a jiffy," before removing her armour and undergarments, Will whispering in Neil's ear, "I can't blame you. She's smoking hot, isn't she?" the blond knight trying his hardest to keep blood from dripping out of his nostrils.

Taylor then got down on all fours and sprinted into the pond, racing through the water. She managed to catch various fish between her teeth, hurling each one onto the grass as Celeste wasted no time picking up one and shaking it, the others following suit. Neil, especially, was happy to have a distraction from Taylor's naked body, though it was hard to resist looking up every now and then to take the occasional glance.

Soon enough, every fish was caught as the knights looked through each one, Taylor having quickly put her armour back on as she knew how uncomfortable her nudity made Neil. And after many different fish had been searched, Izy gasped when the fortieth one dropped something into her hand.

However, it was not a talisman but rather a shiny pebble. As for why it was so shiny was anyone's guess, but Celeste figured that could not have been what the woman was searching for as she said, "Hold on that and keep searching."

And thus, one after the other, the rest of the fish were checked and tossed into the pond just in time to save each one from suffocation. However, nothing else was found as Celeste sighed, "You sure you got every single fish, Taylor?"

"Trust me," the black-haired woman replied with a grin, "If there were more, I would have smelled them."

"Then I guess this stone must have been what she was looking for," Izy replied as she held it up, Celeste having her hand it over and saying, "Thank you all for your help. It really means a lot."

"Yeah, no problem," Will groaned sarcastically, "At least I didn't have to use my bare hands for that," Eric nodding and replying, "I like fish, but I would never want to hold one without my gloves on."

Neil simply smiled and said, "I'm just glad to have been of some assistance," Taylor nodding and adding, "And it's for the good of the kingdom. Nothing wrong with that."

And with all said and done, the group headed off to bed. Celeste would have to find out what this pebble was for in the morning, but right now she was too tired.


	34. Chapter 34

It had been three days since a strange pebble had been discovered inside of a fish and Victoria had gotten hold of two pendulum talismans. Needless to say, Richard was more than pleased that she and Iris had succeeded in their task, but all the princess cared about was figuring out pendulum summoning so she could use it without hurting herself.

While she tried her hardest to figure this out, Duel Kingdom's magic experts had been hard at work trying to figure out this new pebble. At first they figured it must have been a fragment from a magic stone, but not only would a small fragment have served little purpose but there was no way it would have been so perfectly round.

As far as invasions from Rose Kingdom went, things were not too difficult for Duel Kingdom's knights. In fact, Izy was rather surprised that she had not had a single duel during this time, nor had her friends for that matter. Whatever the case, it seemed like they at least had a small reprieve.

As for the cloaked figures, not much had been heard from them lately. It was possible that the cloaked woman might have already known that Duel Kingdom's nights had found what she was looking for and saw no point in searching for it. As for the man, he had not left his cave since he had to relocate.

But today was a new day full of new possibilities as Izy awoke with a yawn. Once again, she had woken up before the others and as such, she slowly and carefully put her armour on so she would not wake anyone up.

After sporting her protective gear, she exited the the barrack and looked around for something to do. Sometimes being an early riser could be boring.

However, it seemed she might have some entertainment until then when Will and Eric approached the barrack, each with a grin on his face. The brunette gave them each a bright smile and said, "Good morning."

"Morning, Izy," Eric replied, "You wake up early too?" Will adding, "We figured we may as well get in some cleaning time before breakfast."

"Wait, do you mean-?" Izy asked as both nodded and held up their gauntlets. And sure enough, the trio had gone to the pond to wash their talismans in the water, using the same method Izy had taught them last week.

"I have to admit, I didn't really understand why anyone would go to such trouble to take care of their demons," Eric stated with a light smile, "but there is something strangely satisfying about this."

"I know, right?" Izy asked with a childish grin, all the while thinking, 'I really should thank Edward one of these days. I've already told my parents how grateful I am, but I barely said a thing to him when he gave me my Performapals and I simply reacted to the pendulums with as much confusion as everyone else. I need to let him know how grateful I am.'

Will simply smiled, seeming to have really gotten into this as he said, "There you go, Gemini Soldier. Did that feel good? I bet it did," Izy and Eric both chuckling at the sight of this.

"It's funny, really," Izy said as she looked at Whip Snake's talisman, "Even though I know they're just being controlled during duels, I still consider them members of my family. I sometimes wonder if maybe, just maybe if they were freed from their talismans, would they even want to be my friends?"

Neither of the male knights were sure how to respond to this. On one hand, they both seriously doubted that would be the case, but they did not wish to crush Izy's spirits. And there was also the fact that Izy was the only knight they knew who could actually have a friendly conversation with her demons outside of a duel. Perhaps her Performapals at least would be her friends, but that was a big maybe.

During this time in the kingdom's prison, Victor had a look of annoyance on his face as Darien and Cole were trying to plead Shelly to show them her chest. They had practically made it a tradition to do this exactly four times a day and the middle-aged man was growing tired of this.

"That's it!" he snapped as he rammed his fist into a wall behind him, Derrick raising an eyebrow and asking, "What's gotten into you? I mean, okay, being here is terrible, but it never got to you before."

"I just feel like I should be doing something else!" the man retorted with his teeth gritted, "I had Green Dragon in the palm of my hand and he just got away without doing anything to protect himself!"

"Wait, you mean THE Green Dragon?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow, Grant asking, "The same guy who basically devastated Rose Kingdom during the first war?"

"Yes, he's still here," Victor replied, "Though because he's old now, he's decided to hide his identity. I don't know why he of all people would need do that, but because of this, no one in this kingdom even knows who he really is. He has everyone fooled, even his own allies."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he's retired now and wants a peaceful life?" Rachel asked with a shrug, the others staring at her as she added, "What?"

"I can't accept that!" Victor retorted as he once again slammed his fist into the wall, "He's not allowed to retire! He killed my father! I refuse to let him get away with that!"

"Focus on your assignments and wait for a full-scale attack to be declared," Derrick remarked with a roll of his eyes, "I'm willing to bet this grudge of yours is what landed you in this cell. Am I right?"

Victor narrowed his eyelids and refused to respond, Derrick saying nothing else. A part of him did not even believe that had been right when he said that, but Victor's face said it all.

"Even so," the middle-aged man added with a sigh, "We need to get out of here and, at the very least, serve our people."

Rachel had a light smile on her face as she replied, "Now that's something I can get behind?" Shelly retorting, "But how!? They took our gauntlets! Even if we could find a way out of our cells, there's no way we can escape without the ability to summon our demons!"

"Yes, that's why I haven't taken any action yet," Victor grunted, "I knew that even if we did escape, we'd just get caught again. However, I have a feeling that I know where they're keeping our gauntlets."

"Really?" Darien remarked, "No offence, man, but I seriously doubt that," only for Cole to shake his head and remark, "No, Darien. I can feel it too."

Shelly and Rachel were both impressed that someone with such a dirty mind could even have a sixth sense until the bald man drooled and stated, "I can hear our precious harpies calling to us in my sleep!"

The other knights, save for Darien, face-palmed as Victor remarked, "I'm serious! I don't know exactly how, but I can feel my undead warriors calling out to me."

"Now that you mention it," Grant replied, "I can kinda feel that too," Shelly adding, "Strange as it may sound, I think there might be truth to that."

"You guys are just playing along, right?" Derrick asked when suddenly, his eyes widened as he uttered, "Firedog? Is that you?" reaching between two bars with a smile on his face, the man saying, "Don't worry, Daddy's coming."

"And so are we!" Darien and Cole exclaimed as Victor hushed them in case the guards heard them, the man saying, "First of all, we need a plan to bust out of here, and I know how we can do it."

During this time, Victoria and Iris were seated for breakfast while the princess had a big, proud smile on her face. Her violet-haired friend blinked and asked, "What's up?" as Victoria replied, "I figured out how I can learn pendulum summoning."

"Really?" Iris asked as the princess nodded and replied, "Yes. I'm going to sneak off to Duel Kingdom so I can find that brown-haired girl and challenge her to a duel. I'll see how she does it and just copy it, only I'll make better use of it."

Iris stared in stunned silence for a few seconds before shaking her head and remarking, "I normally admire you for your actions, but that seems too extreme. What if she beats you and you get arrested?"

The princess let out a sigh and replied, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of that. But don't worry, I won't lose. I just have to see her use it and do it myself. It's that simple."

Iris was about to retort, but seeing how serious her friend was about this, chose to say nothing. It seemed Victoria had made up her mind and if she was certain this would work, Iris would have to respect it. All she could do now was hope that her friend was right about this.

During this time, Celeste had called everyone for a meeting, even those who were about to go to bed after a long night's work. Neil simply looked around at everyone and asked, "What could this be about?" Taylor shrugging and replying, "That's what we're here to find out."

"Everyone, I've got some great news," the commander said with a grin, "Turns out we managed to figure out Rose Kingdom's armour magic much earlier than planned."

"Wait, you mean-?" one knight asked as the woman nodded and replied, "That's right. Starting today, you will no longer have to wear your armour all the time."

Many knights cheered in response to this as Taylor added, "Your new clothes have arrived. To make it less obvious that you're knights, Henry has ordered clothes each of you different clothing to choose from. If we gave you all the same clothes, it would still be obvious, right?"

The others shrugged in response as Izy asked, "Hey, Celeste?" the other knights still shocked that she could just address their commander by name even though their friendship was common knowledge by now.

"Yes?" Celeste asked with a look of confusion, the brunette asking, "I was just wondering, if it's not too much trouble, can I go back home and get an outfit from there?"

"Which home specifically?" Celeste asked as the other knights were surprised that was the first question that came to mind, Izy replying, "The circus, mainly. As you all probably know, my old home isn't here. It's in Driftwood."

"As long as you're not leaving Duel Kingdom, I will allow this," Celeste replied, "But be back soon. After all, I still have to give out the day's assignments and you're gonna be with Will today."

Will was celebrating in his mind at the sound of that when Izy bowed her head and replied, "Thank you so much, Celeste. You're the best."

The other knights gave her awkward stares when the commander added, "Anyone else who wants to pick up some clothes from somewhere else, just say the word and I'll let you," a few people shrugging their shoulders. It seemed Izy was the only one who really wanted an outfit of her own.

But first, everyone had to hand his or her non-duelling glove over to Celeste as they was to have the magic used on each one. She knew that as long as the knights were still dressed in the rest of their armour, they would still have protection in case they had to duel anyone today.

"I have an idea," Will said, Celeste asking, "What is it?" Izy equally curious.

"Since we both have the same assignment, I figured maybe I could accompany Izy and this could just be a brief stop on our way to our assigned area," Will replied as the commander nodded and replied, "That's actually good thinking. But perhaps you should wait until the assignment is over. After all, you won't be getting your new outfits until the afternoon."

Izy nodded with a smile and replied, "Again, thank you, Celeste," the commander chuckling and replying, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, your job is to guard the church today."

Izy and Will gave an army salute before taking off as Celeste was ready to give out more assignments. However, before she could do so, one of the maids tapped her on the shoulder and whispered something into her ear.

The commander nodded in response and replied, "Thanks. I'm just gonna wrap this up first, okay?" the maid nodding and returning to her regular duties.

Meanwhile, in Rose Kingdom, Clement was giving out the day's assignments while Victoria thought, 'Okay, I'm gonna do it. I'm going to disobey orders again.'

However, it seemed like she might not have to when Clement turned to her and said, "Victoria, your father is so happy with your performance that he has agreed that you are, in fact, ready for an infiltration mission."

"Wait, what?" the princess asked, her eyes wide open as Clement nodded and said, "Yep, he wants you to go to Duel Kingdom and dig up any dirt you can find on them. In fact, we're hoping someone can dig up more info regarding that pendulum summoning that Stephanie and Tina fell victim to."

The princess could not believe what she was hearing. It was as if the kingdom had overheard her and was answering her prayers for once. She did not even have to break the rules this time. She had been given permission to do this.

Iris, all the while, was still a tad concerned as she did not wish for her friend to be thrown in jail. But at the same time, it was nice that the princess had gotten her wish without having to ask for it. Hopefully her plan would work.

During this time, Will was walking toward the church with Izy as he asked, "So, what's this outfit you're picking up? It must be really important for you to make such a big deal out of it."

"It is," the brunette replied with a smile, "As much as I love being a knight, I do kind of miss my time spent in the circus. I figured I may as well bring along something to remind me of that time."

"Oh, is it your performing outfit?" Will asked as Izy replied, "Actually, yes. I figure if I'm gonna start whipping my armour out of my gauntlet, I may as well look stylish while doing it."

As much as the man liked the idea of seeing her in a circus performing outfit, he did see a small problem with this as he asked, "Wouldn't that make you kind of suspicious, though? Most people don't dress in such flashy clothes outside of the circus tent."

"True, but no knight would ever be caught dead wearing a circus performer's outfit, would they?" Izy replied with a cute grin, Will chuckling and replying, "Touche."

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Celeste had gone to the throne room and asked, "Your highness, you called for me?" Henry nodding and replying, "Yes. As it just so happens, we've discovered what this stone you brought us is."

Esmeralda nodded and added, "Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. You have no idea how amazing of a find this is."

"Really?" the commander asked, her eyes sparkling as she shook her head, thinking, 'No, be professional about this!'

"So, what is it?" she asked with a serious look in her eyes, Henry explaining, "It's a special core that can be attached to the mid-section of a suit of armour. When placed there, it can actually increase the armour's power by quite a bit. My guess is that our cloaked adversary was hoping to use it to improve his chances even further."

"Wow, good thing I found it," Celeste uttered with a nervous look on her face, Henry nodding and saying, "Anyway, we were thinking that you could use it."

"That's a very generous offer," the commander replied, "but seeing as I'm hardly ever needed to duel Rose Kingdom's soldiers, I think it might be better to give it to one of the other knights. I'm just not sure which one, though."

"Why not Izy?" Esmeralda asked with a shrug, "She's really good, from what I can gather," Henry adding, "Yes, aren't you glad I agreed to let her join?"

"It's way too late to rub that in my face," Celeste remarked with a sigh, "But honestly, she's so good that I can't help thinking that giving her something like this might come off as an insult."

"She has a point there," Esmeralda replied, "I certainly wouldn't have accepted that if I was allowed to fight in the army back in the day," Henry nodding and suggesting, "Perhaps Eric would accept that. Treat it like a reward for all of his hard work."

Celeste thought about this and shrugged, figuring the kind might have been right about that. After all, Eric was determined to do his best to prove himself worthy, even more so than Izy. There was no doubt that an upgrade for his armour would make him happy for sure.

During this time, Izy and Will had arrived at the church as they stood watch outside. All the while, Will was imagining the brunette without her armour on, wearing her stylish performing outfit outside of duels. Sure, he had seen her without armour on whenever she came for the initiation test, but he had grown used to seeing her with armour.

And it seemed Izy was excited too as she squealed, "I can't wait until we get our magical gloves! I like the armour and all, but it can be uncomfortable wearing it all the time, you know."

While the two continued their conversation, Victoria had arrived at Duel Kingdom, thinking, 'Alright, I have to look for that brown-haired girl and no one else. She's my ticket to becoming the hero of Rose Kingdom.'

A smirk formed on the princess' face as her mind added, 'The good thing about these knights is that they rarely ever leave the kingdom for their assignments, so the odds of her being absent are slim to none. Mark my words, Father, I'm going to figure out pendulum summoning and make you even more proud of me.'

And as if that was not enough, things were only starting to look more complicated for Duel Kingdom when Victor had managed to pick the lock to his cell with a chicken bone leftover from last night's dinner, all the while thinking, 'I'll admit, you guys treat your prisoners well. A little too well, in fact.'

Soon enough, all of the other prisoners were freed as Victor rose his fist in the air. But because he knew shouting would garner too much attention, he simply said in as power of a voice as he could use without going beyond an 'inside volume', "Today, we make our escape," the others letting out very low cheers.

Needless to say, things were about to heat up in Duel Kingdom. Would the Rose Kingdom soldiers really be able to find their gauntlets and escape? And would Victoria's strategy work? Only time would tell.


	35. Chapter 35

Things were truly about to heat up in Duel Kingdom. Not only had Victoria come in search of Izy to challenge her to a duel, but the knights Izy and her friends had gone to all the trouble to defeat had escaped from their cells along with a few others captured by the other knights.

Since the townsfolk still did not know what Victoria looked like, the princess simply walked around in broad daylight. Though she also wore a hood in case any of the knights who had seen her took notice of her.

Right now, her only target was Izy. She did not care about anyone else. Even if she ran into Eric, she would do everything to avoid duelling him.

During this time, the prince was busy guarding a woman on her way to the market with another male knight by his side. The two were just looking around when the princess passed by them, Eric turning to look at her briefly.

"Something wrong?" the prince's ally asked as the boy shook his head and replied, "No, nothing's wrong," Victoria all the while biting her lip and thinking, 'Soon, Eric. Soon.'

Meanwhile, Victor and the others were sneaking around the halls. Since there was no way for them to stay hidden, they took advantage of the fact that all of the knights were in the training facility by knocking the servants unconscious one by one. At least this way, no one would be able to rat them out.

Victor narrowed his eyelids and asked, "Everyone know where we're going?" Derrick replying, "You'd better believe it. I can hear my precious Firedog howling," Cole and Darien's eyes turning into hearts as they nodded with their fists raised in excitement.

With that in mind, all of the knights proceeded through the halls in the hopes that they would soon find their talismans along with their gauntlets. Though it truly was a miracle that the knights still in the castle were as busy as they were right now otherwise this would not have been possible.

During this time, Izy and Will were standing guard outside of the church as Will asked, "Say, Izy. Just out of curiosity, what do you think of me?"

The brunette rose an eyebrow and shrugged before saying, "I think you're a nice guy. The others say you're nothing more than a pervert, but I don't really see that in you."

'You should have seen me before I developed feelings for you,' Will thought, although it was nice that Izy thought so positively about him. Perhaps he did have a chance.

While the two knights continued to talk about other things, Victoria was still searching for Izy when she happened to come across the church in question. It took her a while to recognize her, but there was no doubt about it. She had found the one capable of pendulum summoning and there was no way she would pass this up.

As such, she wasted no time as she sprinted toward Izy and whipped out her gauntlet, covering her hand with it. She then had her armour form as Will exclaimed, "Izy, Rose Kingdom Knight coming in fast!"

The brunette nodded and smirked, saying, "Right," but just as she was about to press the gem on her gauntlet, Victoria screeched to a halt and held her arm out, shouting, "WAIT!"

"What?" Izy uttered as the princess removed her hood, Will blinking and asking, "Princess Victoria?"

"That's right," Victoria replied with a sigh, Izy tilting her head to the side and asking, "Wait, why are you here? Did they seriously send you to attack a church?"

"Actually, I was sent to seek you out and face you in a duel!" the princess retorted with a serious look in her eyes, Will asking, "Wait, you mean Izy specifically?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," the princess remarked as Izy sighed, "I understand."

Will's eyes widened, the man now concerned for the brunette's well-being. However, Izy simply gave him a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, I know we lost to her before, but I'll be sure to win this time."

The princess, however, was going to make sure that did not happen as Will stepped far enough away so only the two women would be in the magic field. And thus they were ready for this duel as they pressed their hands up against their gems, the field taking form.

As both knights drew their talismans, Victoria said, "Since I issued the challenge, I guess it's up to me to decide who goes first," Izy nodding as the princess looked over her hand.

Much to her surprise, she had already drawn one of her pendulum demons. However, without any knowledge of how to use it, it might be a bad idea for her to go now. As such, she figured it was finally time to do something she had not yet done since she became a knight.

With that in mind, she said, "I figure since I beat you last time, you may as well go first," Izy grinning and replying, "Well, that's fine by me."

'Alright, I need to at least try,' the princess thought, 'but at the same time, I'm merely trying to keep her at bay until she uses those pendulums of hers and demonstrates their power. Hopefully I won't get carried away and finish her off before she can do it.'

Izy's turn was over with rather quickly as she started off by summoning a knight clad head to toe in black armour with a huge blade in hand, saying, "I'll start things off with my powerful Dark Blade!" Victoria feeling rather nervous now. That knight was quite strong, and things only looked more alarming when Izy set a talisman into a slot and ended her turn.

'That's it?' the princess thought with a look of minor annoyance, 'Damn. She must not have her pendulums in her hand. Or maybe she does and just needs a push in the right direction.'

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and thought, 'I can't go too far, but I still need to protect myself.'

As such, the woman proceeded to place a talisman onto the middle square of her gauntlet as she said, "For my first move, I summon Legendary Six Samurai Kageki!" the samurai taking form with his mechanical arms at the ready.

"I now activate his special power, allowing me to special summon another Six Samurai warrior whose level is five or lower!" the princess stated. But just as she was about to do so, her eyes and mouth were wide open when Izy revealed the talisman she had set at the end of her turn.

"Way to go!" Will exclaimed as Izy smirked and exclaimed, "I activate the trap, Divine Wrath! At the cost of one talisman from my hand, I can negate a demon's effect and destroy the demon in question!"

"In that case, I'll chain the effect of another warrior in my hand!" Victoria stated as a bolt of lightning came down upon Kageki, the samurai's eyes and mouth wide open, his arms flailing around.

With no other options, Victoria proceeded to slap another talisman next to Kageki's before he could be destroyed, bringing out her Legendary Six Samurai Kizan. As the samurai in brown armour was sent to the graveyard, Izy blinked and asked, "How did you do that?"

"I used his power before Kageki was sent to the graveyard," Victoria explained, "See, as long as I control another Six Samurai, I can special summon Kizan from my hand."

This was certainly a much better defence as his power was equal to that of Dark Blade, but would that really be enough? After all, Izy could very well have something really useful in her hand.

With this in mind, the princess set a talisman into a slot and thought, 'This should at least keep her at bay,' as her turn came to a close.'

As Izy drew her next talisman, a grin formed on her face as she squealed, "Sweet! I start by activating Card of Sanctity!" placing said spell into a slot and tapping its side with her finger.

Victoria blinked and thought, 'Good, this'll increase the odds of her drawing those pendulums of hers,' each knight drawing until she had six talismans in her hand.

However, it seemed Izy had only drawn one while Victoria had her second one in her hand. Since the princess was unaware of Izy's predicament, she simply smirked and thought, 'Yes, this is it! Once her turn ends, I can finally make use of these!'

"I summon Performapal Whip Snake!" Izy exclaimed with a grin as the princess thought, 'She doesn't have them!? But how!?' the purple cobra taking form as the brunette added, "Alright, it's time for you to make me proud!"

'Wait, she used this on me last time, didn't she?' Victoria thought with a frown, 'That's right. This one's power can be very annoying.'

And it certainly seemed so as the snake gazed into Kizan's eyes, switching his attack and defence. To make matters worse for the samurai, his defence was insanely low, so this put him at a huge disadvantage.

However, it seemed Victoria was prepared for this as when Whip Snake propelled himself off the ground and aimed his tail toward the warrior, the princess proceeded to activate the talisman she had set, exclaiming, "I now activate Six Style Dual Wield!"

"What?" Izy asked as Kizan threw his blade downward, stirring up a powerful wind that sent both Dark Blade and Whip Snake back into Izy's hand. The brunette gulped as Will uttered, "That's not good."

"If all I control is one Six Samurai warrior," Victoria explained with a smirk, "I can target two of your demons and send them back to your hand. In other words, you're defenceless next turn."

Izy was now terrified out of her mind as she trembled. However, she seemed to regain a bit of her fighting spirit when Will gave her a warm smile and held his thumb up. With that in mind, she set a talisman into a slot and ended her turn, hoping this would at least provide her with a decent defence. After all, at least no client's life was at stake this time, though hers might still have been.

'She doesn't seem to take disadvantages well,' Victoria thought with a smirk, 'That's it. Maybe she is holding back because she doesn't think I'm worth this pendulum summoning of hers yet. In that case, I'll have to give her a reason to use it.'

With that in mind, the princess drew her next talisman and said, "Alright, I'll start things off by summoning Legendary Six Samurai Enishi!"

As the warrior took form, Izy was tempted to reach for her trap. However, she stopped herself and thought, 'No, I can't do that yet. She has two level four warriors out right now. There's a chance she might use them to summon that demon hero of hers. If she brings him out, I can use my trap to get rid of him and render her side defenceless.'

Izy had to think more logically, especially after Victoria had pulled a major fast one during their last duel. And it seemed her suspicions were true when the princess smirked and said, "I now overlay both of my warriors in order to summon Shadow of the Six Samurai, Shien!"

With that, the red samurai took form as Will gulped, "I remember this guy," Izy nodding and exclaiming, "Unfortunately for you, he won't be of any help!" a smirk forming on her face as she activated her set talisman.

Victoria's eye twitched as Izy exclaimed, "I now activate Raigeki Break! At the cost of one talisman from my hand, I can target one demon on your side of the field and send it to the graveyard, and I only see one target right now!"

The shocking thing was that rather than sending a less useful talisman to the graveyard, Izy instead went with her Dark Blade. But what was there to gain from that? Dark Blade was a very powerful warrior, so it seemed odd to send him to the graveyard.

Even so, this was hardly an issue as Shien was struck by a bolt of lightning, the samurai turning into a flash of light and flying into Victoria's graveyard. However, it seemed the princess was prepared for this as she said, "Not bad, but I now activate Monster Reborn to bring my Shien back from the graveyard."

"No way!" Will groaned with a look of panic, Izy gulping as the samurai returned to the field, Victoria stating, "Sure, he doesn't have his overlay units anymore, but that's a small price to pay for his power."

With that, Shien proceeded to charge at the brunette and strike her armour hard, bringing her damage points all the way down to fifteen hundred. Needless to say, she would need a miracle to get around this, Victoria all the while thinking, 'Alright, I dealt a lot of damage, but she's still standing. As long as I don't take it much further than this, I'll get to see that pendulum summoning in action.'

However, just to be on the safe side, the princess proceeded to set two talismans into slots before bringing her turn to a close. After all, she could only guess how strong of a demon one could bring out with pendulum summoning.

Luckily, Izy did not have too much to worry about as even if she did not draw her second pendulum mage, she still had her Whip Snake. And with Shien's defence being weaker than that of Kizan, this could certainly work in her favour.

But as she drew her next talisman, her eyes lit up as she grinned, thinking, 'Yes! Thank you!' Victoria asking, "What are you so happy about? It'll take a miracle for you to beat my Shien!" the princess clearly having forgotten about Izy's Whip Snake.

However, it seemed like the woman had even more to work with as she exclaimed, "First, I activate the spell Dark Factory of Mass Production! This allows me to return two demons to my hand just as long as they don't have special powers, and luckily, I have two just like that in my graveyard!"

"Wait, what?" Victoria asked as Izy activated that very talisman and brought back to the two she had discarded, the brunette explaining, "If you recall, I've discarded two talismans throughout this duel so far, and those were specifically normal fighters."

"Way to plan ahead, Izy!" Will exclaimed with a big grin as Victoria gulped and thought, 'Of course! It makes perfect sense!' but she then shook her head and thought, 'But they're probably both weaklings.'

However, it seemed Izy had even more planned as she exclaimed, "And now for something you've likely never seen before!" the brunette holding aloft two particular talismans before slapping them onto the side of her gauntlet, "I now set the scale with Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician!"

'Wait, are those-?' Victoria thought as both mages took form, a big pendulum forming behind them and rocking back and forth.

'There's no doubt about it,' the princess thought with a grin, 'She's going to do it. Though I wasn't expecting them both to be summoned like that.'

"And now, with their power, I pendulum summon every demon in my hand!" Izy exclaimed as Will grinned bright, Victoria's eyes wide with shock as she uttered, "Every demon?"

And sure enough, four lights came down from a big hole in the sky and fell on separate spaces, a demon forming from each one. Of course Dark Blade and Whip Snake had returned, but there were also two that Izy had not used since she became a knight.

The first was a red shield with a golden rim and an Egyptian eye engraved in the middle of it. This demon was known as Millennium Shield, and while it had no attack power, it had an insanely high defence, making it one of the most effective demons for defending.

However, the last one to appear was one of Izy's strongest demons. This was a slender purple dragon with red armour covering his legs, arms, back and the spikes on the back of his neck. He also wore a white mask over his face, which resembled a crow's beak in a way. With a white chest plate with two big blue gems lodged into it, this was Odd-Eyes Dragon.

The beast let out a loud battle cry as Victoria blinked, asking, "How did you do that? Not only did you just summon a whole bunch of demons, but you have more than five out right now! How has your gauntlet not exploded yet!?"

"That's because when pendulums are set, they're treated as spells separate from the spell zone," Izy explained with a grin, "Also, pendulums allow me to special summon any demon in my hand whose level is between their pendulum numbers. See, Stargazer's number is one and Timegazer's is eight, meaning I can only pendulum summon demons whose levels are between two and seven."

'So that's what those numbers are for,' the princess thought as she looked at her own pendulums. Her Twin Kings had the number one on their sides while Flash Knight had number seven, meaning that if they had been set, she could pendulum summon any warrior from her hand whose level ranged from two to six.

'If I knew pendulum summoning was this bad, I wouldn't have aimed to have her use it first,' Victoria thought with a look of despair in her eyes, 'Those demons combined could easily bring my armour's damage points down to zero.'

However, she then remembered her trap and took a deep breath, thinking, 'Right, I can at least defend myself this turn.'

With all said and done, Izy looked at her Dark Blade and Whip Snake, thinking, 'Sorry, Utopia, but I'm not making the same mistake I did in my duel with Stephanie and Tina. If I had kept Whip Snake out, things would have been easier for me, and right now, that might still be the case.'

As such, the brunette had Whip Snake gaze into Shien's eyes, the samurai groaning as his attack and defence were switched. However, rather than having the snake attack, Izy smirked and exclaimed, "Now I'll have Odd-Eyes strike down that samurai of yours! See, when Odd-Eyes destroys and opponent's fighter, he will inflict damage equal to that fighter's attack power to the owner's armour!"

'That means I'll take in an additional twenty-five hundred damage?' the princess thought with sheer terror in her eyes as the dragon proceeded to charge at Shien. But just as he was about to go in for the kill, Victoria revealed her first talisman, exclaiming, "I ACTIVATE FIENDISH CHAIN!"

She could not have been more relieved as a row of chains shot out of a tablet and bound the dragon in place, the princess letting out a sigh before explaining, "I can target one demon with a special power. As long as these chains are bound to him, your Odd-Eyes not only can't use his power, but he also can't attack."

Will blinked and uttered, "Oh, that is pretty bad, isn't it?" but Izy refused to let this get to her as she smirked and said, "Not bad, but I can still attack you anyway."

As much as it pained Victoria to admit it, the brunette was right as she had Dark Blade charge toward Shien, sending an X-shaped strike with both of his swords down the samurai's midsection. With that, he flew back into the princess' graveyard as Dark Blade sent a strike into the pink-haired woman's armour, her damage points now reduced to twenty-six hundred.

However, it seemed Victoria had something else planned as she activated her other talisman, exclaiming, "I now activate Shien's Scheme! If a Six Samurai warrior is destroyed, I can use this to special summon two others from my hand, and I choose the only two I have, Irou and Kamon!"

With that, Irou took form along with a pale man dressed in bronze armour with his arms and torso laced with dynamite. However, his attack power was rather low and thus the princess knew he would not last. But at least this was still better protection than nothing.

But Victoria's suspicions were still proven true when Whip Snake propelled himself off the ground, sending his tail hard into the man's forehead and sending him into the princess' graveyard. He also slammed her tail into her armour, bringing her damage points down to twenty-four hundred as Izy brought her turn to a close, Will giving her a round of applause.

Izy would have summoned Utopia during her second main phase, but she could still use Whip Snake's power, even during the opponent's turn. As such, she figured it might be better to keep him out even if Irou's power was equal to his.

However, Victoria was not going to let this slide as a smirk came over her face, the princess thinking, 'Alright, that was good, but I'm still in this. Don't think for a minute that this is over!' as she drew her next talisman.

With her new knowledge of how pendulum summoning worked, she had every intention of exploiting it. She was going to turn this all in her favour and she would do it with her own pendulums.


	36. Chapter 36

Things were certainly looking up for Izy as thanks to her pendulum summoning, Victoria only had one warrior left on her side, and this one was not strong enough to deal with either of Izy's demons. But even so, the princess was determined to make this all work out in the end as she had two warriors in her hand that she knew could at least give her an edge in this duel.

However, the princess' odds were looking up to a certain degree as she drew Pot of Greed. As such, she wasted no time activating it as she drew two more talismans, her eyes wide with shock. It seemed she had drawn something that could truly help her out in this situation, especially when it came to Whip Snake's power.

"Alright, brace yourself," Victoria said with a smirk, Will and Izy now curious as the pink-haired woman added, "You think you're so special just because you can use something no one else has ever heard of! Well, guess what!? I can do it too!"

"Wait, is she referring to-?" Will uttered as the princess proceeded to slap two talismans onto the sides of her gauntlet.

It was just as the man feared as two vicious huskies appeared on Victoria's right side of the field, each dressed in golden gladiator armour. They were The Twin Kings, Founders of the Empire. On her left side was a young man clad in golden armour so bright, it reflected all light off of it. With spiky blond hair blowing in the wind, this was Flash Knight.

When Izy saw a big pendulum form behind them, her eyes went wide with terror. Up to this point, it truly seemed like she was the only one with pendulums and yet the princess had it as well.

And it would only get worse from here as the princess thought, 'Alright, how did she word that?' before nodding and exclaiming, "With the scale set, I pendulum summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and Spirit of the Six Samurai!"

As both warriors took form, Izy blinked and asked, "That's it?" as Victoria shook her head and remarked, "Oh no, I have one last thing in mind," before slapping another talisman onto her gauntlet.

This brought forth a man with deathly pale skin and blood red eyes. He wore a big red suit of shogun armour and a black cape. As if that was not enough, his defence was almost equal to his incredibly high attack, so even with Whip Snake's power, Izy barely stood a chance against this thing.

"I know you probably thought the Shadow of the Six Samurai was my most powerful warrior," Victoria stated with a grin, "but this bad boy right here is my true powerhouse! I can special summon him as long as I have at least two Six Samurai warriors on the field and his name is Great Shogun Shien!"

Izy and Will were both spellbound for a few seconds. The princess was not kidding. He was more powerful, but mostly due to his high defence.

Izy then broke the silence as she shook her head and asked, "Wait, you have two Shiens in your deck? Wouldn't that be confusing if you decide to use the shortened name to refer to either one?" as Will shook his head and replied, "I don't think that's really important right now."

"Your ally is right," Victoria remarked with a light scowl, "Thanks to my Shogun, my victory is guaranteed."

However, Izy had something else in mind as she remarked, "No way! I'm gonna make sure my Odd-Eyes at least lives through this turn!" as she had Whip Snake gaze into Shogun's eyes. Sure, his defence was high, but it was still just barely low enough that when switched with his attack, it made him too weak to defeat the dragon.

However, Victoria had a wicked smile on her face as she said, "Not bad, but I wasn't planning to use Shogun for that."

"You weren't?" Izy uttered with confusion as the princess nodded and stated, "I now activate Spirit of the Six Samurai's power and equip him to my Grandmaster, bringing his attack power up to twenty-six hundred."

Izy and Will were both frightened now as the spirit turned from blue fire to a bright light, his armour attaching itself to the Grandmaster. The samurai let out a fierce battle cry as a blue aura surrounded him, the man charging toward Odd-Eyes with his sword raised and striking him down the middle.

The brunette bit her lower lip as the dragon flew into her graveyard, Grandmaster striking her armour and bringing her damage points down to fourteen hundred. And as if that was not enough, Shogun proceeded to march over to Dark Blade, jabbing his katana straight through the knight's armour, sending him into the graveyard as well.

Will winced as Izy took in another blow to her armour, her damage points now having dropped to eight hundred. And it would only get worse from here as Irou ended the turn by charging at Whip Snake, the cobra frowning and striking the samurai in his midsection.

However, since both of their attack powers were the same, the cobra also received a stab to his forehead as both flew into their respective owners' graveyards, Victoria thinking, 'As much as it pains me to give up one of my samurais, there's no way I can risk letting that thing stay on the field.'

She then turned her vision toward Millennium Shield as her mind added, 'Now I just gotta worry about that defence of hers. If I can get rid of that thing, I'll win this duel for sure.'

But as the princess ended her turn, Will blinked and asked, "Hold on. If you had pendulums this whole time, why did you ask Izy how it worked?" the brunette nodding and saying, "Yeah, that's a good point. You seemed genuinely curious about that."

"If you must know," Victoria replied, "it's because I only just acquired these pendulums of mine. With no recorded knowledge of how they work, I needed to face you so you could inadvertently teach me how pendulum summoning works. See, I overheard two of our knights talking about how you were able to use it."

Izy blinked and gulped, uttering, "I helped the enemy, didn't I?" Will sighing, "Hey, if you hadn't used pendulum summoning, you wouldn't have defeated Shien so easily."

"Actually, I could have beaten him with Whip Snake," Izy groaned as Will replied, "Don't beat yourself up over this. Just draw your next talisman and turn this around."

"That is if you can," Victoria remarked with a smirk as the brunette bit her lower lip, whimpering, "But what if I can't do this? Her warriors are both so strong. Even if I can defeat one of them-"

"Don't say that," Will remarked with a serious look in his eyes, "I've seen you get out of tough scrapes like these before. If anyone can find a way around this, it's you."

Izy's eyes widened as the man added, "I'm serious. Don't lose faith," Victoria rolling her eyes and remarking, "Are you done with the cliched speeches? I'm getting nauseous just listening to that!"

However, it seemed Will's words had gone through to Izy as she took a deep breath and sported a more serious look, drawing her next talisman. She blinked as she had drawn Ventdra, but while this did not seem like the upper hand she needed, there was a spell she had been saving for a moment like this since she had used her Card of Sanctity.

"Alright, time to turn this around!" Izy exclaimed as she summoned her Ventdra, the blue warrior taking form and striking a fighting pose.

Victoria simply blinked and said, "If my Irou was still on the field, you could have done something with that," as Izy narrowed her eyelids and remarked, "That's not all I'm doing this turn."

She then inserted a talisman into a slot and pressed it with her finger, exclaiming, "I now equip my Ventdra with Axe of Despair, raising his attack power by one thousand!"

With that, a light shot out from a tablet into Ventdra's hand, a wooden axe taking form. Now Victoria was worried as the blue warrior proceeded to charge at Grandmaster, striking him down the middle as both he and Spirit of the Six Samurai were sent to the graveyard. The princess then took in a blow to her armour as her damage points dropped to two thousand.

'No!' she thought with a grimace, 'I'm so close! I can't let it end like this!'

Izy, meanwhile, could not be more relieved as she ended her turn and took a deep breath. It had been very close, but at least she seemed to have the upper hand back.

Will, meanwhile, gave her a thumb up with a warm smile as she grinned back at him. If it had not been for his words of encouragement, she would have given up.

However, Victoria was not going to allow herself to lose. As such, she held the talisman on the top of her deck and closed her eyes, thinking, 'Come on. I know you have something that can help me win this, deck. Please, give me the talisman I need.'

And as she drew her next talisman, her eyes sparkled as she had drawn something very useful. As such, she wasted no time as she inserted it into a slot and tapped it, stating, "I now equip my Shogun with Fusion Sword Murasame Blade!"

Izy's eyes widened as a new sword appeared in the samurai's free hand. It had an orange handle and had magical energy surrounding it.

"Your equip spell is impressive, but this one's more than enough to help me out," Victoria explained with a smirk, "It increases the attack power of any warrior equipped with it by eight hundred. And better yet, it can't be destroyed by any demon powers meant to destroy spells."

Izy gulped as Shogun rushed at Ventdra, sending two slashes into his midsection and sending him into the brunette's graveyard. The samurai then struck her armour as her damage points dropped to five hundred, Victoria ending her turn.

"I'll admit, you've put up a good struggle, but it's not good enough," Victoria said as Izy trembled.

However, she bit her lower lip and thought, 'No. I have to have something that can help me. Besides, I still have my Millennium Shield to at least protect me this turn.'

With that in mind, she drew her next talisman and groaned. True, this was not a bad draw, but it was not a particularly great one as it would require Victoria not to draw something she could use for combat next turn.

Even so, the brunette had no other options as she set the talisman into a slot and ended her turn, Victoria blinking and asking, "Is that really all you had? Wow, you're low on options, aren't you?"

Izy bit her lower lip and thought, 'She's right. I'm practically out of options,' but replaced her nervous look with a more serious one. She could not look vulnerable at this point, especially when she was this close to defeat.

But as Victoria drew her next talisman, she was disappointed. All she had drawn was a trap that she could not make use of. As such, she simply did the only thing she could do right now as Shogun rushed at Millennium Shield, slashing it in two as it flew into Izy's graveyard.

With that, Izy grinned and exclaimed, "Sweet! I can use this after all!" revealing her trap to be Jar of Greed.

"Oh, that's it," Victoria sighed with relief, "I was expecting something more deadly."

But as Izy looked at the talisman she had drawn as a result of her trap, she smiled and thought, 'Oh, it's more deadly than you could imagine,' Will all the while giving her a supportive smile, knowing she had this.

With that, Victoria ended her turn and smirked, saying, "You may as well give up. With my Shogun as strong as he is, you don't stand a chance."

However, it seemed like Izy might be able to pull off a victory after all as she drew her next talisman and stated, "True, but I can at least try."

With that in mind, she set one talisman face-down on a square, a boulder appearing before her. She saw no reason to use pendulum summoning for this one as it was only one demon who could be summoned normally.

She then placed set the talisman she had drawn with Jar of Greed into a slot and ended her turn, Victoria saying, "You were a decent adversary, but you're still going to lose. And just think, your specialty caused this."

Izy bit her lip, still feeling rather bad about having helped the princess figure out pendulum summoning. But right now, there was no need for her to feel sorry for herself as she was absolutely certain she would win this duel.

As Victoria drew her talisman, she smirked and said, "Well, it's been fun, but I need to end this now," the pink-haired woman placing a talisman next to Shogun.

This brought forth Shien's Daredevil as Will really hoped Izy could find a way around this. This warrior may not have been one of Victoria's best, but he was still more than enough to finish off what little Izy had left of her damage points.

But as Shogun charged at the defending demon, Izy grinned childishly and exclaimed, "YES! YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP!" Will and Victoria both astounded when the brunette activated the talisman she had set last turn.

'No, not Mirror Force,' Victoria thought as various beams of light shot off of a barrier that formed around Izy's side of the field.

The light blasted through all five squares on Victoria's side of the field, both of her warriors now in her graveyard as she bit her lower lip. There was just no way. After she had come so close, Izy had rendered her completely defenceless.

With that, the princess had nothing left as she ended her turn, thinking, 'It's fine. I can still take in two thousand damage. And she'll only have one talisman. Surely she'll get the same results I did last turn and draw nothing of value.'

And it seemed the princess was actually right as Izy had drawn a trap. She could at least make use of it, but could she afford this? After all, Victoria could easily finish her off if given another turn.

With this in mind, Izy first revealed her defending demon by flipping him into attack position. The demon in question as a dragon covered in black and green armour with a blade attached to his chin. His name was Hunter Dragon and while he was strong, his attack was not quite enough to finish off Victoria.

'Good, I was right,' the princess thought as Izy sighed, "I had hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this, but I really have little choice. I'm far too low in damage points to risk giving you another move, so I'm going to have to reveal something else about pendulum summoning to you."

Will blinked and nodded his head, replying, "Don't let it get to you, Izy. What matters right now is that you win this duel."

"Right," Izy replied as she moved her Stargazer and Timegazer from the pendulum zones to the field.

Victoria stared in confusion as Izy stated, "See, at any time after the turn you set them, you can move pendulums from the pendulum zone to the field. The downside is that you can no longer use them for pendulum summoning, but it's a good way to bring out two fighters with ease."

'Oh my god!' Victoria thought as she took a good look at both of her pendulums. Not only was Flash Knight fairly strong, but her Twin Kings were insanely powerful. If she had known that she could summon them so easily, she could have at least summoned them during her second main phase. Then she would have had something to protect her armour.

And Izy wasted no time as she made full use of this, her dragon flying forward and ramming his chin blade into Victoria's armour, bringing her damage points down to three hundred. And with that, Timegazer ended the duel for good by sending his wrist blade into her, the princess coughing up a bit of blood as her armour came off, falling on the ground behind her as she lay on her back in defeat.

Izy took a deep breath before removing the magic field, Will grinning and exclaiming, "Way to go, Izy! You did it!" the brunette giving him a light smile and replying, "Yeah. Thanks for helping me get through that."

Victoria, all the while, could not help but curse herself for this. Despite her plan, she really had not known enough about pendulum summoning to make full use of it. Sure, it was quite possibly the most complex of all summoning methods to figure out, but she still should have known better. And now that she knew of its greatest advantages, she might not even get a chance to use that knowledge.

As Izy approached the princess, she gritted her teeth and tried her hardest to get up. But much to her surprise, Izy did not look the least bit malicious. Instead, she had a warm smile on her face as she held her hand out and said, "Get up. I know a hit like that couldn't have possibly been enough to hurt you that badly."

Victoria blinked as she slapped the brunette's hand away, barking, "Why didn't you just kill me when you had the chance!? Is it because I spared your life! I wasn't doing that for you!"

"Trust me, none of us really believe in killing our opponents," Will replied with a shrug, "We know you're just doing your jobs. That's no reason to end your lives."

"That and even if you were a despicable human being with no redeeming qualities, I still wouldn't kill you," Izy added with a big smile, "After all, everyone deserves a second chance, right?"

Victoria could see the sincerity in their eyes. She could not believe what she was hearing. How many other knights in Duel Kingdom had this policy?

Either way, she still had a score to settle with Eric as she frowned and remarked, "I'll admit defeat today and I'll even admit that you seem like a very reasonable person. However, I refuse to allow myself to be thrown in prison."

With that in mind, Victoria tried to bolt for it only for Izy to turn to Will, exclaiming, "Give me a boost!" the man nodding and holding out his hands.

Izy leapt up onto his palms as he threw her into the air, the brunette performing a series of vertical flips before landing in front of Victoria. Will's eyes widened as he only found her even more amazing after that.

"How did you-?" Victoria uttered as Izy grinned cutely and replied, "Oh, I used to be a circus performer," the princess thinking, 'I've been after the wrong target. She's a much bigger threat than Eric.'

But just as it looked like she would be caught for sure, the Rose Kingdom knights who had broken out of prison were running straight toward that very spot with a few knights from the kingdom pursuing them. It seemed they had, indeed, found their gauntlets as Victor blinked and asked, "Is that the princess?"

"It's her, alright," Cole replied, "I'd recognize that pink hair anywhere," Darien asking, "Yeah, ever notice how that seems to be the only hair colour no one else in the world has? Even violet seems to be quite common."

As much as it pained Victoria, she had to admit that this was her best bet as she waved and exclaimed, "HEY, GUYS, I NEED SOME HELP HERE!" Will in full panic mode as he shouted, "Oh, god, not even we could stand up to that many knights!"

"We should still try and stop them, though," Izy remarked only for Victoria to muster up just enough strength to send a karate chop toward Izy and Will's face.

Will ended up taking in a hard blow, falling on his back while Izy narrowly dodged. However, with her armour only at three hundred damage points, there was no way she would be much of a threat as the other Rose Kingdom knights ran by, the princess joining them.

Soon enough, the knights had fled from Duel Kingdom as they summoned their own demons to carry them back to their homeland. The other knights who had pursued them stopped running and started breathing heavily.

"What just happened?" Izy asked as Will slowly got to his feet, the brunette gasping as she ran over to him and asked, "Are you okay?"

The man nodded and replied, "Just a light bruise to my nose. Nothing too serious."

However, Izy could not help but feel ashamed of herself. She could have at least provided a distraction so Duel Kingdom's knights could keep up, but she failed to do even that much. Sure, she won her duel, but all of the knights that she and her allies had gone to the trouble of imprisoning had escaped.


	37. Chapter 37

While Izy had not been fully satisfied with her victory, she knew it would be in her best interest to get over it soon. After all, she was going to see Edward for quite possibly the last time in quite a while and it would be a waste to spend that time wallowing in her own self-doubt.

Even so, she still had a slight look of shame on her face while walking toward the circus tent, Will seeing this and patting her on the shoulder, asking, "Hey, Izy, what's wrong? You haven't said anything since you won your duel."

"I don't know," Izy replied with a sigh, "I'm trying really hard to forget about it, but I feel like I just helped the enemy."

Will needed a few seconds to process this answer before nodding and saying, "I get it. You mean the fact that you taught Victoria how to use pendulum summoning, right?"

"Not just that," the brunette stated, "I didn't just teach her how to pendulum summon. I taught her just about every upside to it, including the ability to switch pendulum demons from the pendulum zone to the field. The only thing I didn't reveal is the fact that pendulum demons destroyed in battle while the pendulums are set go to the extra deck instead the graveyard."

'Is that true?' Will thought, 'Wow, pendulum summoning really is overpowered,' as Izy sighed, "I just wish I could have arrested her right there. At least then, she couldn't possibly use that knowledge to help her out."

Will nodded in understanding. After all, Izy did have a point. Victoria had already come very close to victory, and now that she knew so much about how pendulum summoning worked, who was to say she would not move on to become Rose Kingdom's strongest soldier?

Even so, the man did not wish to see Izy this hard on herself as he gave her a warm smile and said, "You know what? Let her use that against us."

"What!?" the brunette remarked, her eyes wide with shock and confusion as the man added, "Yeah, let her use everything she can? If I know you, you'll likely find a way around it anyway."

"But-" Izy uttered as Will shook his head and retorted, "But nothing! Like you said, there's a bit of information you know that she doesn't and you can use that against her! You are the first knight to ever use pendulum summoning, thus I seriously doubt a newbie like Victoria could ever defeat you, even if her pendulums have higher attack powers than yours."

The brunette had to admit that the man had a point. Sure, Victoria had very strong pendulums, but Izy had pretty much mastered pendulum summoning whereas the princess had only used it once. Even with so much knowledge having been revealed to her, she was nowhere near what one would call an expert.

With that in mind, Izy smiled cutely and gave Will a hug, saying, "Thanks. You're an awesome friend, you know that?" Will's cheeks turning beet red as he laughed nervously and replied, "Happy to be of help."

With that in mind, the brunette took a deep breath and said, "Right, guess I may as well see the old boss, eh? I bet he'll be really happy to see me."

Meanwhile, Edward was currently watching a girl just a year younger than Izy practising a balancing act on a tightrope. The girl seemed to struggle as the ringleader exclaimed, "Come on, Stormy, we've been through this! Stop looking down!"

"I-I can't help it!" the girl squeaked as she lost her footing and fell into a net below the tightrope, Edward slapping his forehead and groaning, "I thought you said you were a master at this! It's been a week and you still can't figure it out!"

At that moment, Izy entered the tent and exclaimed, "Hi, Edward! It's me!" Edward's eyes and mouth wide open as he let out a light gasp and turned around.

The biggest smile formed on his face and ran over to the brunette and gave her a hug, exclaiming, "Oh, Izy, you have no idea how good it is to see you again!" then looking her over from top to bottom, he let out an impressed whistle and added, "Wow, it's so weird yet so impressive to see you sporting that suit of armour! I'm just so used to seeing you in your performing outfit!"

"Yeah," Izy replied with a grin, "Speaking of which, the kingdom has allowed us to wear regular clothes when we're not in combat, so I was wondering if maybe I could bring my old performing outfit to wear during that time."

Edward blinked and asked, "Now, why would the kingdom suddenly allow that?" as the brunette replied, "I'll explain that soon enough. I'm just wondering-"

The ringleader held up a hand and grinned, saying, "If it's that important to you, of course you can bring it with you. I refuse to let anyone else wear it," the man walking over to a cupboard and pulling out a thin box with the outfit inside of it.

At that moment, Will stepped inside and looked around, uttering, "So this is where you used to work," Edward raising an eyebrow as stated, "This is my friend, Will."

Edward grinned and lifted his hat, saying, "How do you do?" the male knight bowing his head and saying, "A pleasure to meet you, Mister Edward, sir. Izy's told me a lot about you and how you helped her achieve her dream."

"You told him that?" Edward asked with a chuckle, "But what did I do? Heck, I still wish you'd chosen not to leave us."

Izy giggled and said, "Well, you did give me my Performapals. And while you may have spoken up against my decision to go through with this, you never really tried to stop me."

"I suppose that's true," the ringleader replied with a grin, "I'm glad you're doing alright. In fact, I've talked to a few of your clients. That Sharon lady thinks really highly of you. Says you're something else."

Izy's cheeks turned bright pink as she chuckled, "Well, I wasn't exactly fighting alone," Edward nodding and replying, "Oh yes. I've heard you're very good friends with Prince Eric. I have to say, I never would have expected that."

"Excuse me," the girl who had failed to balance on the tightrope uttered, "Can I have my break now?" Edward nodding and replying, "Oh, yes, of course, Stormy."

As the girl climbed down from the net, she noticed Izy, her eyes widening as she sprinted over and squealed, "Oh my god, you're the famous Izy!"

The brunette blinked in response to this as Stormy pulled out a piece of paper and a feather quill, asking, "May I have your autograph? Pretty please?" a big grin on her face as Izy gave her a sweet smile and replied, "Of course."

With that, she signed her name on the paper and handed it back to the new performer, Stormy's eyes sparkling as she uttered, "I will treasure this for life."

Will blinked and asked, "Was this normal back when you were a performer?" Izy nodding and replying, "Oh yeah. Believe it or not, this isn't even the most enthusiastic reaction I've gotten."

"I can believe that," Stormy replied, "Ever since I first saw you perform, I've wanted to be like you. When I found out your position was open, I figured this was my chance."

The girl then let out a sigh and groaned, "Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near your level," Edward laughing nervously and replying, "Look, I know I can be a little harsh, but I'm sure you can get it in due time," though deep down, a part of him was wishing Izy would quit the royal army and replace the new girl.

"Thank you, sir," Stormy said in response to his comment, "but I don't think I could ever reach the level of someone so amazing."

However, the girl gasped when Izy rested her hand on her shoulders and gave her a warm smile, saying, "Don't say that. Trust me, there have been so many times where I've doubted myself over the past, too. Heck, I had a similar experience earlier today."

"Is that true?" Stormy asked as Edward rose an eyebrow, thinking, 'She's not just saying that to be nice, is she? Izy's never been the dishonest type, but white lies aren't exactly against her nature.'

"Yes, it's true," Will replied, "I was there," the ringleader actually a tad surprised to hear confirmation as Izy added, "But you know what? Never have I let that get me down. Every time I doubt myself, I find a way to work around any major disadvantage. Heck, I know for a fact that no one in Duel Kingdom ever believed that I could become a knight. And after I got that far, people still doubted that I would be of any help to the army."

"Did you prove them wrong?" Stormy asked with much interest as Izy nodded and replied, "Yes, I did. Every time things got bad for me, I simply did what I could to make things better. I wouldn't call myself one of the best in the army, but I do feel like I've done a good job serving the kingdom, and many others can vouch for me."

Will nodded his head with a warm smile. After all, Izy's words were true. She really had surprised everyone, including him. At first, he saw her as nothing more than another newcomer for him to take advantage of, but now he saw her as the truly amazing person who had taught him to love.

"Keep on trying, and eventually, you might even surpass me," Izy stated as Stormy gasped, the brunette adding, "And I mean it. It's totally possible."

"Thank you," Stormy replied with a big smile, "You are so cool," the girl then running off to the break area while Edward chuckled and stated, "I have to admit, Izy, you really are something else."

He then held up a finger and added, "I'm certain you probably have to return to the castle soon, don't you?" Izy gasping, "He's right! I need to give my report of today's duel!" Will nodding and saying, "Oh yeah, Celeste may be our friend, but we can only keep her waiting for so long."

"Well, before you take off, I want you to have this," Edward stated with a grin as he handed her a necklace with a star emblem on it, "It suits you. After all, you are the biggest star I've ever had."

Izy gave the ringleader a warm smile and accepted the necklace, placing it around her neck. She then gave the man one last hug before taking her leave. She waved goodbye while the ringleader waved back, the man taking a deep breath.

"Be careful out there, kid," the man said with a sigh, "You really are amazing."

During this time, the cloaked knight had once again acquired a rare talisman from a cave. And to make matters worse, he had defeated both Lance and Marie to get it, both knights lying on their backs.

"Good heavens, he is even worse than I had ever imagined!" Lance exclaimed in an over-dramatic tone, Marie nodding and groaning, "I hate to admit it, but you're right. This man really is as bad as they say."

"You know, I'm standing right here," the cloaked knight remarked as he dusted off the talisman, Marie staring daggers at him and remarking, "I don't get you at all! Why don't you kill us!? Do you think we won't come back for you again, that we're just gonna roll over and take this!?"

Lance trembled and uttered, "Well, she might, but I certainly won't, sir knight who is far superior to us in every way," Marie rolling her eyes in disgust.

"If you want to challenge me again, that's fine," the man replied with a shrug, "And hey, you might even beat me next time."

"Don't mock us!" Marie retorted as the cloaked man sighed, "I'm not. I mean, you've seen what I can do and can use that against me. But even if you do somehow come up with a strategy to defeat me, I will never kill you. My plan is to save all of you from an early demise. If I go around killing people, that'll just defeat the purpose."

Marie was speechless. Were this man's words true? Was he really trying to save everyone? And furthermore, how exactly were these talismans supposed to help him do it?

Whatever the case, the cloaked figure walked right past the knights, both of them too weak to stop him as he grinned and said, "Someday, this will all come to an end and you'll thank me."

Meanwhile, back at Rose Kingdom, Victoria had returned with all of the knights who had escaped from prison. Needless to say, Clement was beyond happy to see them all back, but Richard was the most glad. He thought for sure that he would have to fight to break them out of prison if push came to shove.

"I still can't believe you of all people were captured, Victor," the king said as Victor sighed, "Yes, but I swear, it won't happen again. But I did succeed at finding Green Dragon. I swear, when I see him again, I will make him pay."

Richard nodded and replied, "Wow, you actually found the legend himself? Is he still as intimidating as I remember?"

But while the other knights were happy, Victoria could not feel nearly as positive. She had a look of deep shame on her face as Clement noticed this and patted her on the shoulder.

"Cheer up," the commander said with a smile, "You may have lost the duel, but you did exactly what we wanted you to do. You discovered the secrets behind pendulum summoning. You should be proud."

The princess was about to retort but realized it was pointless as she let out a sigh and replied, "Yeah, you're right," before walking away from the area and rolling her eyes.

At that moment, Iris entered the area with a light smile and said, "Welcome back, Victoria," the princess turning to her and sighing, "Thank god, someone reasonable."

"Is something wrong?" the violet-haired woman replied as Victoria groaned, "You were right, Iris. It was foolish to think I could beat her at her own game with no past experience. This pendulum summoning is just so complicated."

Iris nodded and replied, "Well, I'm just glad you were able to return. At least now you can use the knowledge you obtained today in the future."

"Yeah, that's right," the princess replied with a grin, "The next time I face her, I'll beat her for sure."

With that in mind, the women headed off to the dining hall for dinner as Victoria sighed, "Thanks, Iris. You always know just how to cheer me up," her violet-haired friend more than happy to hear that.

During this time, Izy and Will had returned to Duel Kingdom to give their report, Celeste nodding and saying, "Wow, Victoria has pendulum demons? That's not good," Will grinning and replying, "Izy still kicked her butt, anyway, so it's all good in the end."

"Of course," the commander replied with a light smile before holding out a box and handing it to Will, saying, "Here's your new outfit along with your new gauntlet. You may return to your barrack and change whenever you like."

"Thanks," the man replied as he looked inside the box and groaned, "A brown top? Really?" Celeste remarking, "Don't get snippy with me. If you wanted something else, you should have asked."

Will rolled his eyes and walked off, waving at Izy who smiled and waved back. He would be sure to reunite with her after getting changed.

At that moment, Neil and Taylor returned to give their own report for the day. Once again, it had been rather uneventful, but Celeste was glad that everything had been successful for them, the commander handing them their new outfits as well.

Taylor grinned and exclaimed, "This is so exciting! I can't wait to try it on!" Neil, all the while, tensing up at the thought of his black-haired friend not wearing armour on a regular basis anymore.

Needless to say, though, everyone was happy that they no longer had to walk around in heavy armour all the time. Sure, they had grown used to it over time, but this was still a welcome change.

And sure enough, the knights were all fitted into their new clothes with their armour now magically tucked into their gauntlets. And like Rose Kingdom, they kept said gauntlets in satchels so any Rose Kingdom soldiers would not be able to spot them. Needless to say, this was certainly a step in the right direction.

The men had finished changing first as they all waited outside for the women. Neil gulped as Will patted him on the shoulder and sighed, "You've already seen her naked twice. I'm sure you can handle this," the blond knight nodding and uttering, "Yeah. You're right."

Eric was currently dressed in a simple black shirt and brown pants. Sure, he had his expensive royal clothing, but as always, he preferred to live like the other knights. Neil wore a sky-blue top and simply black pants, though it was still nicer than Will's outfit, which consisted of a brown shirt and pants that were a darker shade of brown. Needless to say, the man envied his friends.

But neither of these outfits could compare to those of the women. When Taylor and Izy emerged, Will's jaw dropped, his eyes wide open, Neil blushing bright as Taylor gave him a sweet smile and asked, "Well, what do you think?"

"You look very nice," Neil replied as Taylor had a black top and pants to match, the black-haired woman saying, "Thank you so much, Neil. You look good, too."

However, the major standout was naturally Izy. After all, while the other knights had been provided with typical peasant clothes, Izy had a sleeveless red top with yellow stars stitched along the middle. She had a pair of black shorts and a lovely blue bow tie, and covering the lower half of her legs was a pair of white stockings. And, of course, she sported fancy black shoes on her feet to perfect the look.

"Looking good!" Eric exclaimed with a grin as Will uttered, "Izy, you're beautiful."

The brunette blushed lightly and uttered, "Really?" Will nodding his head as Eric thought, 'Damn, I should have said that!'

However, Will truly meant it. This was the most beautiful he had ever seen Izy look, and he already found her gorgeous no matter what she wore. And to think he would see her in this outfit everyday.

But of course, the most important thing was that this would allow the knights of Duel Kingdom to enter Rose Kingdom without being caught and perform stealth operations. No more would their enemies be the only ones doing this. But would this truly give them the upper hand? Only time would tell.


End file.
